How Miami Heat’s Twitter Reacted to the Loss Against the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday Night
Consecutive wins against the Atlanta Hawks gave Miami Heat fans optimism for a little stretch. Now, fans are downplaying that success after a close loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.
“The reality is that this team will be in the play-in,” one fan said. “They likely aren't going to catch NYK or BKN. Also there's no guarantee they win their play-in game or games.”
The Heat cut the deficit late in the fourth quarter but couldn’t come away with the win. Max Strus had a shot attempt to tie the game, which many fans found odd since he was 2 of 8 from the arc.
The Heat's backcourt in general was criticized after their performance. Strus, Victor Oladipo, and Gabe Vincent, combined for 18 points on 5 of 19 shooting. Vincent took one shot the entire game, ending the night with just two assists, zero points and zero rebounds. He’s averaging 5.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists since the All-Star break. The days of Heat fans praising him over Kyle Lowry are gone.
Seeing Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell’s performance against Miami once again reminded fans that he could have been in a Heat jersey this season.
“Donovan Mitchell would have made the Heat a Finals contender,” one user said. “Instead they’re turning the ball over 24 times and letting Max Strus take buzzer beaters. Pat Riley has failed Jimmy Butler.”
The Heat play Cleveland (42-26) again Friday night.
Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.