the miami heat really had to work for these three points against the memphis grizzlies:
the heat needed all nine of those passes too.
really good activity from memphis; all five guys were flying around the court on a string.
even the sole "mistake" - xavier tillman closing out a little too hard on markieff morris at the end there - was defensible, considering the time left on the shot clock. selling out for the shot contest made sense in that situation. keef just showed excellent patience with the clock running down.
also, i've noticed that duncan robinson is allowed to get away with quite a bit when he's off-the-ball.
he's always been a prolific screener, but now he has the respect of the officials when it comes to using his hands. like at the beginning of this possession, he literally shoves ja morant into morris' pick.
referee #63 staring right at him, no call. i guess life really changes when you get a $90 million contract.
elsewhere in the association:
1. never thought i'd see a team run a stagger for ricky rubio to shoot a 3, but the cleveland cavaliers did it and it worked:
2. lamelo ball has "it". i still think lonzo ball is a better, more complete basketball player than his younger brother is at the moment, but that could change pretty soon if melo continues to develop at this rate. he makes the game look ridiculously easy sometimes.
3. scottie barnes is very interesting. still early, but there's a lot of talent there.
4. related to my last point: there's an incredible amount of rookie talent in the league right now. chris duarte has impressed me. i'm extremely high on evan mobley. not going to list everyone (the list is too long), but there's talent everywhere.
5. i'll do a dedicated post on cj mccollum at some point - that man is a professional bucket.
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