SI:AM | The Heat Did Not Mess Around

Plus, what you missed in the NHL playoffs.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. The Heat are looking like a real title contender.

In today’s SI:AM:

🔥 Miami’s easy Game 1 win

🏒 Dirty plays in the NHL playoffs

🐐 Sue Bird chats with SI

The Heat are just that good

The Sixers got a look at life without Joel Embiid last night—and it wasn’t pretty.

Embiid is out indefinitely with a concussion and fractured orbital bone suffered in the final game of Philadelphia’s series win over the Raptors. The team is reportedly hopeful that he could clear the league’s concussion protocol in time to play in Game 3.

With the MVP candidate sidelined for last night’s game in Miami, the Heat cruised to an easy victory, 106–92. Embiid’s absence meant that DeAndre Jordan (yes, he’s on the Sixers) got the starting nod. Paul Reed also got some minutes in the middle, and Michael Pina came away impressed with his play:

“He was active defensively, battled on the glass and even facilitated a few transition opportunities that were created off turnovers and aided Philly’s poise breaking down Miami’s full-court press. Reed was a little antsy out there, too, and left his feet on a couple of pump fakes. But the Sixers’ best chance going forward sans Embiid is probably with him in the starting lineup and then playing small ball when he needs to rest.”

Pina advocated for Reed to start Game 2, but Sixers coach Doc Rivers said after the game that Jordan will get the start again.

The Sixers’ midseason acquisition of James Harden was supposed to take some pressure off Embiid, but Harden was quiet again last night. He had 16 points (on 5-of-13 shooting), nine rebounds and five assists. It’s easy to say he needs to be better, but Embiid’s absence allowed the Heat to make Harden their defensive focus. Pina again:

“All night long, it was clear Erik Spoelstra was not willing to let Philadelphia’s only healthy All-Star beat his team. The Heat blitzed Harden’s ball screens. They doubled after an initial switch and wouldn’t let Harden isolate on a preferable defender (i.e., Tyler Herro) until the Sixers gave him enough space by going small with four complementary shooters. (Spoelstra didn’t play Duncan Robinson, which took a prime target off Harden’s board.)”

But let’s not make this all about the Sixers. Miami deserves credit for looking every bit like the best team in the Eastern Conference. The Heat were missing one of their own key players (Kyle Lowry, who’s dealing with a hamstring injury) and Jimmy Butler had only 15 points. But Bam Adebayo feasted on the depleted Philly defense, putting up 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Herro scored 25 off the bench. They’re a deep team and totally deserving of being the top seed in the East.

Let’s be sure to keep the Sixers’ loss in perspective, too. It’s just one game, on the road, against a quality opponent. Stealing a win in Game 2 would be a significant development, but they could still be in decent shape if they can get Embiid back in Game 3 when the series shifts to Philly and hold serve.

The best of Sports Illustrated

Rohan Nadkarni ranked the eight teams left in the NBA playoffs. … Rohan also wrote about the Suns’ win in Game 1 against the Mavericks and how significant it was that Phoenix took the pressure off Chris Paul. … The appropriate reaction after Trevor Bauer’s suspension is obvious, Stephanie Apstein writes: “Let’s never think about this person again.” … Jon Wertheim spoke with Sue Bird ahead of what is likely her final WNBA season. … This morning, former South Dakota State guard Baylor Scheierman announced he was transferring to Creighton. Kevin Sweeney thinks the Bluejays “have a legitimate case to be the No. 1 team in preseason polls.”

Around the Sports World

DeAndre Hopkins has been suspended for the first six games of the NFL season for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy. … The WNBA is planning to honor Brittney Griner with a floor decal as she remains detained in Russia. … ESPN has a long story about an infamous NASCAR driver who disappeared for 40 years and only now has broken his silence. … The Mets resolved their roster crunch by designating Robinson Canó for assignment. … Joel Embiid is reportedly considering representing France at the 2024 Olympics.

The top five...

… most noteworthy moments from the first night of the Stanley Cup playoffs:

5. Mitch Marner’s goal to finally break his 18-game playoff goalless drought

4. Jared Spurgeon’s unnecessary cross-check to the back of Pavel Buchnevich’s legs

3. Kyle Clifford’s dirty hit that got him ejected in the first period

2. David Perron’s hat trick for the Blues against the Wild

1. This frantic sequence that led to the Kings’ game-winning goal

SIQ

One of the bits of baseball trivia I knew best when I was a kid was the home run totals of guys in the 500-homer club. On this day in 1980, Giants slugger Willie McCovey hit the final home run of his career. How many did he retire with?

• 514
• 521
• 528
• 535

Yesterday’s SIQ: On May 2, 1988, Reds manager Pete Rose was suspended 30 days for doing what?

Answer: Shoving umpire Dave Pallone during an argument over a late call in a game against the Mets on April 30.

The play in question occurred in the ninth inning of a tie game. Mookie Wilson hit a routine ground ball to shortstop, but the throw appeared to pull first baseman Nick Esasky off the bag. Pallone delayed making a call and Esasky, unaware he had come off the bag and assuming Wilson was out, held on to the ball as Howard Johnson came around from second to score the go-ahead run.

Rose came out to argue with Pallone. The two men got within inches of each other and as Pallone gestured at Rose, he may have made contact with the manager’s face. Rose responded by shoving Pallone, earning him an ejection. The fans showered the field with trash, and Pallone was removed from the game. It continued with just three umpires. You can watch the whole episode on YouTube.

Pallone, who was promoted to the majors during an umpires’ strike in 1979, was widely unpopular. He had a years-long feud with Reds infielder Dave Concepción, admitting in ’83 he sometimes tried to block Concepción’s view. And crossing the picket line as a scab made Pallone unpopular with his fellow umpires. He also admitted to having gambling debts in excess of $1,000 betting on sports. While Pallone was not said to have wagered on baseball, “his gambling drew concern from baseball officials,” the Associated Press reported.

In September 1988, Pallone was told by National League officials he would be fired if he did not resign, the AP reported at the time. (It was the end of his 10th season in the majors, and he had to be given tenure or cut loose.) Pallone alleged in a memoir published two years later that he was fired because he is gay.

Pallone sued MLB for wrongful termination and settled out of court, telling an audience at Lehigh University in 1998 that the settlement “exceeded 10 years of tuition” at the school. He now works as a motivational speaker.

From the Vault: May 3, 1999

Walter Iooss Jr./Sports Illustrated

On May 3, 1999, the NBA playoffs had yet to begin. Why? Kevin Garnett. Well, sort of.

The real reason the season was delayed was the 1998–99 lockout, which pushed the start of a 50-game regular season to Feb. 5. The reason for the lockout was NBA owners’ fretting over rising player salaries—and nobody was a better poster child for big player contracts than KG.

When Garnett was taken fifth in the 1995 NBA draft, his contract was predetermined by his draft position: three years for a total of $5.6 million. After he proved to be one of the best players in the NBA, Minnesota tried to lock him up with a long-term extension. The team offered $102 million over six years in the summer of ’97. Garnett turned it down. As Leigh Montville wrote in SI, people couldn’t believe it:

“Garnett's refusal made headlines. He was 21 years old! He turned down $102 million! What was he thinking? Officials at the Minnesota State Fair took down a cardboard cutout of him, fearing that people would deface it. To get out of the spotlight, Garnett went to stay with [his agent Eric] Fleisher for a while, at his home in Westchester County, north of New York City. He played basketball with Fleisher's 13-year-old son in the driveway, spent time on the Internet talking to strangers under an alias. Fleisher took the heat.”

Right before the deadline for members of Garnett’s rookie class to sign extensions, Fleisher and the Timberwolves struck an agreement on a six-year, $126 million contract. Other teams couldn’t believe that Minnesota owner Glen Taylor had promised so much money to one player.

“You had a new, inexperienced owner overpaying to keep a star,” one anonymous owner told Montville. “That's how most owners saw it. At the same time, though, they looked at their own situations. What was going to happen when the next class of rookies came up for extensions, Allen Iverson in Philadelphia, Antoine Walker in Boston?”

In response, the owners exercised their option to reopen the collective bargaining agreement with the players in March 1998, leading to a work stoppage that summer.

Garnett really lucked out. By signing when he did, he nearly doubled the value of his second contract. Had he signed an extension under the new CBA, it would have been worth a maximum of $71 million over six years. All told, KG earned $343.9 million during his 21-year Hall of Fame career.

Check out more of SI’s archives and historic images at vault.si.com.

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