Miami Heat
Miami Heat Announces Chris Bosh Will Return Next Season
Published
11 years agoon
By
Willie David
MIAMI — Cloud after cloud has rolled into South Florida over the past nine months, halting to hover over American Airlines Arena. From departures to injuries to ailments, it’s been difficult for the Heat to keep from getting downcast amid the downpour.
Finally, Monday night, the sun peered through.
First came the team’s release—in coordination with Chris Bosh’s doctors—that the All-Star forward, sidelined for the season with a blood clot, will start strength training next month with the intention of resuming full basketball activities in September.
Then came a familiar smile, from a familiar place, behind the microphone in the arena’s interview room.
“Good afternoon, good evening,” Bosh said, looking slimmer, but otherwise no worse for wear. “First off, I just want to thank everybody for the continued support and prayers. It truly has kept me uplifted through this trying time, and I feel that all the love and energy has really allowed me to be back here. Not under the circumstances I want to be. But beggars can’t be choosers. I’m very happy to be here. And I’m doing a lot better. So thank you.”
When Bosh, bothered by a sore lower back for several weeks, checked into the hospital on Feb. 19 and then was diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs, it wasn’t entirely clear whether he would play basketball again. Now, there doesn’t seem to be any doubt. Bosh has been spending his days at home with his wife and three kids, walking for exercise and recently driving around the block.
“I just take time to reflect, and just sit outside and enjoy the beautiful weather and appreciate it,” Bosh said.
There’s been plenty to reflect upon.
He knew something was wrong for a while, but wasn’t sure what, and now suspects that he might have been playing with the clots for three weeks or more. But he didn’t want to become a burden to a team that had been burdened enough, fighting for a playoff spot with key cogs regularly out of the lineup.
“You know our situation,” Bosh said. “It’s been tough this year. I didn’t want to continue to add to the snowball that was already going on. So I just wanted to do my best and go out there and try to get a win. That’s all I was thinking about.”
After the All-Star Game, he told Bleacher Report that he was hurting, but wasn’t injured. Then he went to Haiti for a quick trip with his wife, Adrienne, as well as Dwyane Wade and Wade’s wife, Gabrielle Union. When he came back, he was feeling worse. Adrienne pushed him to see a doctor.
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Miami
Booker’s 35 points lead surprising Suns past Heat 119-112
Published
6 years agoon
August 9, 2020By
FNN SPORTS
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Devin Booker scored 35 points and Jevon Carter added a season-high 20 points as the Phoenix Suns remained undefeated in the NBA restart, beating the Miami Heat 119-112 on Saturday night.
Carter made six of eight 3-pointers as the Suns improved to 5-0 in the restart.
“I think this bubble opportunity was big for us and we’re taking advantage of it,” Booker said.
Miami is currently the No. 4 team in the Eastern Conference playoff standings. Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro each had 25 points to lead the Heat.
The Suns continued to thrive as the only undefeated team and biggest surprise in the Disney bubble.
Phoenix began the restart schedule with the second-worst record of the 22 teams in the field and the worst mark in the Western Conference.
“I just think we had a group who wanted to come here and prove they were worthy of being here,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “They heard a lot of stuff that was being said.”
The Suns have played like serious playoff contenders. Led by Booker, Phoenix had wins over Washington, Dallas, the Los Angeles Clippers and Indiana before beating Miami. The Suns entered Saturday’s schedule only 2 1/2 games behind eighth-place Memphis.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said his team must be better at winning battles for the ball.
“Those second-chance opportunities during those swing moments during the course of the game really kept us at bay and kept them in control when they needed to do it,” Spoelstra said.
Miami had an opportunity late in the game.
Three free throws by Robinson cut the Suns’ lead to 115-112 before Miami’s Bam Adebayo was called for goaltending on a shot by Booker. The review with 11.2 seconds remaining confirmed the call and extended the lead to five points.
Led by its backcourt scoring from Herro and Robinson, Miami quickly led by double figures at 19-8. The Heat couldn’t pull away and the teams were tied at 60-all at halftime. The Suns led 88-86 entering the final period.
TIP-INS
Suns: Rookie F Cameron Johnson made two 3-pointers in the first half, becoming the fastest player to reach 100 career 3s in team history. … Ricky Rubio had seven points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Deandre Ayton had 18 points and 12 rebounds.
Heat: Goran Dragic (sprained left ankle) missed his second straight game. Jimmy Butler (sore right ankle) missed his third straight game. Kendrick Nunn and KZ Okpala were held out for personal reasons.
TURN UP THE HEAT
Miami is facing pressure to protect its No. 4 spot in the East. It is only one game ahead of Philadelphia and Indiana, now tied for fifth. Two of Miami’s three remaining games before the playoffs are against Indiana.
“We also want to continue to get healthy and the No. 1 priority will be getting ready for the playoffs and getting our game right,” Spoelstra said.
RUNNING THE SHOW
Herro is being given more responsibility as the point guard and said he “felt comfortable” in the role.
“I’ve been working really hard with the ball in my hands,” Herro said, adding Spoelstra “has really been helping me a lot. My teammates are starting to trust me more. I’m still young and I’m learning a lot.”
UP NEXT
Suns: Play the Thunder on Monday.
Heat: Play the Pacers on Monday night.
Miami
Orlando Escapes the Heat in Season Home Opener
Published
8 years agoon
October 17, 2018By
FNN SPORTS
ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN SPORTS) – The Orlando Magic opened up their 30th season in an exciting way on Wednesday night. Led by Aaron Gordon’s 26 points and 16 rebounds, the Magic won in front of the 9th largest crowd in team history by the score of 104-101.
Gordon showed off all of his growing offensive game Wednesday. He went 9 for 18 from the floor, hit 4 of his 5 attempts from the 3-point line and was even more impressive on the glass. His 16 rebounds tied a career-high and he also added two assists in the team high 38 minutes played.
Orlando missed three free throws in the final 12.3 seconds and it gave Miami one last chance to steal a game on the road, but Jonathan Isaac forced Josh Richardson to step out of bounds with 3.5 seconds left, allowing the Magic to start the season with a victory.
The Magic started off the game slow and it allowed the Heat to get off to big lead. The Heat led by as many as 14 points in the opening quarter, but the Magic used defense to chip away the deficit. After Miami went up 28-14, they proceeded to miss 15 of their next 18 shots and it allowed the Magic to tie the game with 6:32 left in the second quarter.
“It feels good, man. It’s always good to win on opening night. It’s always good to beat Miami. We were down 14 [points] at [one] point. It shows that we are fighters. That’s what we’re going to be about this year. We’re going to fight. I thought the second unit did a great job for us, honestly. Mo [Mohamed Bamba], Simms (Jonathon Simmons), T-Ross [Terrance Ross], JG [Jerian Grant], and everyone; they all stepped up and that’s a big reason why we had a W tonight.”- Magic guard Evan Fournier on winning on opening night
Over the next quarter-and-a-half, both teams went back and forth with the lead, with neither leading by more than seven points. Then the defensive efforts of reserves Terrance Ross and rookie Mohamed Bamba took over. Both players combined to block 4 of their 6 total blocks in a six-minute period early in the fourth quarter as the Magic built an 11-point lead.
“No question, no question. It started with them, you know so much of it is having the chance to control the ball. They drive the ball, they cut when they drive and the ball is constantly going in the paint. You’re not going to prevent them from doing it, like I said, they were top five last year and I think fifth in drives into the paint, I think sixth in paint touches, but we did better as the game went on, which is a good sign. They’re not an easy team to play against.”- Magic Head Coach Steve Clifford on the impact of Terrance Ross and Mohamed Bamba
Wednesday night marked the third straight year that the two sunshine state teams opened up the season against each other. On Friday night, the Magic will take on Steve Clifford’s former team the Charlotte Hornets at Amway Center at 7pm while the Heat will travel to Washington on Thursday night to play the Wizards.
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Danny Thompson is a sports contributor for Florida National News. | info@floridanationalnews.com
