The Miami Heat’s performance on opening night against the Orlando Magic is utterly unexpected given that they didn’t make any significant changes during the NBA summer. It’s not, in fact. Except for the front office, almost everyone could see it coming from a mile away. Ironically, Pat Riley, who was dubbed the name of the Heat’s court during halftime of their season-opening crushing defeat, is in charge of that same front office.
For the majority of the night, Miami was in disarray. Terry Rozier was the team’s top scorer, finishing with 19 points on 5-15 field goal shooting. Jimmy ended with three points on 1-8 shooting from the field and had a game-worst minus-30 when on the court. Jimmy comes into this season carrying a lot of responsibility.
To be fair, Jimmy wasn’t the only high-profile athlete that had a rough night. Bam concluded with just nine points and five rebounds on 1-5 shooting from the field, despite the fact that he is mainly projected to advance in his development even more. When playing with the Heat, he was a minus-30 as well.
All things considered, the Magic were superior to the Heat. Could the Heat have had a poor game? Of course. However, the Heat have suffered in a similar manner for the last two regular seasons. Rather than being a passing fad, it is now more likely that this is who the Heat are.
Either the Heat are that awful, or the Magic are the league’s best team. And I’m fairly certain that, at this stage of the season, I would lean toward the notion that Miami is that awful. Given everything that surrounds this squad, it’s possible that things will worsen before they improve. And for Heat supporters, that is a frightening prospect.
