Boston Celtics dominate the Miami Heat with near-perfect play, while Norman Powell's lucrative free agency future hangs in the balance.
In the latest edition of the HeatWave Podcast, Miami Heat and Miami Hurricanes beat writer Anthony Aguirre was joined by Philadelphia 76ers publisher Anthony Pasciolla to discuss the team’s Wednesday night 147-129 loss to the Boston Celtics. They dropped to 10th in the Eastern Conference standings.
The biggest standout to Aguirre was the Celtics’ pristine protection of the basketball:
“One of the things that stands out to me the most, A.P., is the Celtics only committed seven turnovers,” he said. “Only seven. We hardly ever see an NBA team keep their turnovers to single digits in just a whole season, really. That’s part of what makes the Heat offense their offense: capitalizing on turnovers, getting on a fast break. They simply couldn’t do it against the Celtics because they hardly made any mistakes.”
Pasciolla believes the Heat get a pass, given the gap in talent between them and the Celtics:
“Not maybe in this ugly of fashion and especially not at this point in the regular season when they’re battling for seeding in the Eastern Conference,” he said. “Those are the downsides, but the reality is, if you take a step back and really think about it, these teams are just simply in different positions. Miami’s been a Play-In Tournament team for what feels like a century. The Celtics are a championship contender, even with Jayson Tatum just coming back. The reality is they’re just two different teams in two different spots.
The next topic was about Norman Powell’s financial future. The 32-year-old is set to be a free agent after the season and is currently eligible for a four-year, $128.5 million contract. The first-time All-Star guard is averaging 22.1 points on 47.3 percent shooting, 38.4 percent from three-point range, 3.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.1 steals in 55 games played.
However, Aguirre believes the best option is for both parties to split:
“I’ll take it a step further, I’d let him walk for nothing,” he said. “I don’t think you’re going to get anything significant for a 32-year-old All-Star, who maybe has a good four to five years left in this league. I just don’t see it.”
The Heat are guaranteed to finish as low as the Play-In Tournament, where both Roundtable Sports writers expect the team to end up for a fourth consecutive season. There may be concerns with Bam Adebayo’s feelings towards the organization if the right changes aren’t made.
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