Podcast: Basketball is back! Actually! And the Miami Heat’s offense still looks good
Miami Heat basketball is back! For real!
After more than three months without playing a real game, the Heat got back on the court Wednesday for an abbreviated scrimmage against the Sacramento Kings, and it didn’t seem like Miami missed a beat.
Sharpshooting swingman Duncan Robinson went wild from beyond the arc, All-Star wing Jimmy Butler did his all-around thing and the Heat won 104-98 in Lake Buena Vista, so the Heat Check has a novel idea this week: Why not talk about actual basketball? David Wilson and Anthony Chiang, the Miami Herald’s Heat beat writer, break down Miami’s first game in four months and why the national media might not believe in the Heat’s offense, but we certainly do.
We also discuss wing Andre Iguodala’s solid performance and why he is a key to Miami’s postseason success, and we update the latest on rookie guard Kendrick Nunn and All-Star post player Bam Adebayo, who are expected to take the practice court at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex as early as Thursday.
For the second half of the episode, we’re joined by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press, who’s still trapped inside the NBA’s bubble albeit with a bit more freedom this week. He’s now roaming around Walt Disney World — with some strict limitations, of course — and he brings us on an on-the-ground report from Central Florida. What sort of luminaries is he bumping into? How’s the food looking? Is it all good vibes there after some concerns the first week players arrived? Most importantly: How does freedom feel after a week cooped up in a hotel room?
He also gives us some insight into the admittedly bizarre empty-arena atmosphere at HP Field House, where player introductions were greeted with silence and Heat public-address announcer Michael Baiamonte shouted, “Dos minutos,” to an empty crowd.
