The Miami Heat found themselves as the main story in the NBA on Wednesday night, for all the wrong reasons. As the Heat were getting punked by a Golden State Warriors team playing without Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, tensions flared up on the bench in a big way during a timeout in the third quarter. Jimmy Butler and Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra got into a shouting match, with veteran Udonis Haslem also going after Butler.
Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma chimed in with his unique take on the situation, which further exposed a harsh reality for Miami this season:
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The 47-26 Heat are indeed in first place in the Eastern Conference and have been for a bit now, despite dealing with a ton of health issues. However, it seems as if they've been flying under the radar a bit and aren't getting as much coverage as a top contender.
Now, though, there will be questions about the chemistry in the locker room. The Heat tried to brush this all off after the game, with Spoelstra even making jokes and talking about the “gnarly” guys on the roster.
Perhaps this really was nothing, but it didn't look like nothing. It's rare to see a coach lose it like that on the bench, especially a guy like Erik Spoelstra. It was understandable to be frustrated given the circumstances, because the Heat were struggling for a second straight game against an extremely shorthanded roster and ultimately wound up losing. Just the game before, Miami lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, who were without both Joel Embiid and James Harden.
If the Heat falter in the playoffs, many will point to this stretch and this debacle as the beginning of the end for them. We'll see how they respond as they now sit just 1.5 games up on the Sixers, Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics.
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