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Miami Heat Game Story

Miami overcomes poor defensive first quarter, wins shootout vs. Atlanta on Monday Night

It was an awkward Monday night at Miami-Dade Arena. One of the rarer scenarios in NBA basketball, the Miami Heat hosted the Atlanta Hawks for the second time in a row.

Even more strange, both teams were sliding as they came into the game but still looked remarkable, going back and forth in an amazing offensive game. In the end, it was the hometown Heat who got it done 130-128, its second highest point total of the season.

“A lot of brilliant, inspiring plays,” Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I thought our bench, our second unit was outstanding.”

Entering the game, Atlanta was on a four-game road skid while Miami had lost six of its last eight games.

Trying to break its streak, Atlanta helped itself tremendously by beginning the game incredibly hot. Putting up 43 in the first quarter, the Hawks led 43-30 as the teams from the Southeast Division entered the second quarter.

For Miami, it was the most points the team had allowed to an opponent in any one quarter all season.

“I think we just had to play harder,” Miami guard Gabe Vincent said of the defensive adjustments after the first quarter. “They have high offensive talent.”

The scoring attack was well rounded for Atlanta as it held onto its lead into the halftime break, 68-63. Through two quarters, Center Clint Capela had 10, former Washington Husky Dejounte Murray had scored 10 points while he dished out five assists. Spreading the offense even more, 30-year-old Bogdan Bogdanović had an additional 10 points for the Hawks through two quarters.

Though down early, Miami wouldn’t quit on its difficult mission of beating the same opponent two times in a row. Off the bench, the 205-pound Caleb Martin had led the way in the early goings and finished with 21 in about 28 minutes of action.

“He’s our version of the matrix,” Spoelstra said of Martin, a reference to former NBA star Shawn Marion. “He’s just so active and inspiring.”

After an eight-point first half, Heat forward Jimmy Butler finished one rebound and assist shy of a triple-double, pouring in 18 in the second half to get 26 total points.

“Jimmy, he’s one of the most selfless superstars in the game,” Vincent said.

Aided by 10 made 3-pointers in 20 attempts through three quarters, Miami tightened the margin to a 96-92 Atlanta lead entering the final quarter.

The Heat, symbolic of its nickname, caught fire as it needed to in the fourth quarter. After tying the game at 100, Miami used a couple of Bam Adebayo free throws and a Victor Oladipo alley oop dunk from Duncan Robinson to jam into a 104-100 lead with 9:22 remaining, forcing the Hawks to take a timeout.

“I been trying to catch a lob all year,” Oladipo said. “Big shout out to Duncan, that was a great pass by him.”

Oladipo finished with 21 points, hitting four threes and five free throws.

“It’s important not only for my game but for my team as well,” Oladipo said. “It helps our team down the stretch.”

Adebayo hit all six of his free throw attempts in route to an efficient 16-point night.

“We had our rim attacks, we had our free throws. We were able to get Jimmy to the line, Bam to the line,” Spoelstra said.

After taking the lead, Miami forced the Hawks to play from behind but never let them catch back up. Atlanta was eventually forced to foul, but Butler hit both free throws at the line with 1.6 seconds to go to seal a 130-128 victory.

Miami will host another short, two game series which starts Wednesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. from Miami-Dade Arena.

Miami Marlins Game Story

Marlins regain winning record behind Soler's pinch-hit big fly, beat Giants 4-3.

It took a long time to develop, but the Miami Marlins eventually overcame the San Francisco Giants ground ball pitcher Logan Webb. Plating the winning run in a 4-3 victory, Jorge Soler stepped into the box in place of shortstop Garrett Hampson in the seventh inning and hit a towering two-run home run to put the Marlins ahead.

“Winning kind of makes everything better,” Miami catcher Jacob Stallings said before the game. “We’ve had a really hard schedule too. We’ve beaten some really good teams.”

After allowing Soler to hit his first pinch hit home run since September 21 of 2015 when he was with the Chicago Cubs, Webb was removed from the game. The 6-foot-1 righty went 6.2 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits in 105 pitches.

Despite postponements in travel from Miami to Detroit, delaying the arrival of the team until Monday morning, the Giants had no problem waking up the bats in front of 8744 fans at Loan Depot Park in the early part of the ball game.

Twenty-three-year-old Heliot Ramos earned his first career RBI by doubling over left fielder Bryan De La Cruz’s head to bring home catcher Joey Bart in the second inning. After, the Giants (5-10) scratched for two more in the third inning when the former South Florida Bull David Villar notched his third double of the season to score designated hitter Darin Ruf and first baseman Wilmer Flores.

Miami (9-8) countered in the bottom of the third as fan favorite Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled to center field to score Jesus Sanchez.

“He’s got a good attitude. For me, it’s all about the process and not the results. So, if the process is there he can do whatever he needs to do,” Miami Marlins first base coach Jon Jay said of Chisholm’s efforts to break his slower start to the season.

Through five innings, the Giants held a 3-1 lead.

Marlins starter Jesus Luzardo kept Miami in the game. By the end of his outing, Luzardo just missed out on the quality start as he went 4.1 innings. The 6-foot lefty allowed six hits, striking out as many hitters in 100 pitches. He was relieved by four pitchers, none of whom gave up a run.

“He’s a special, special talent,” Stallings said. “He’s really starting to put it together I would say the last year and a half or so.”

Entering the game with a 21-25 record against Miami since 2015, San Francisco’s troubled past against the Marlins started to catch up to the team as the two-hour, 19-minute game moved along.

In the sixth inning, Miami’s flaming hot hitter Luis Arraez drove in Chisholm Jr. with an RBI single to close the gap to just one run. Soon after, the Marlins would take the lead for good behind Soler’s two-run home run in the seventh.

“Luis is the type of guy who is prepared. Like, if you watch him behind the scenes and everything he does he’s prepared to go out there and play baseball,” Jay said before the game. “He brings a lot of energy which I think is really good for this team.”

Up 4-3 in the ninth inning, closer A.J. Puk needed three outs. The 27-year-old collected his second save of the season with 11 pitches, capturing the victory for the Marlins.

“Our pitching has done really well, our bullpen has been really good,” Stallings said. “I think there is just a different belief with our group this year.”

Pitching a scoreless seventh inning, Miami reliever Matt Barnes earned the win (1-0) while Webb (0-4) was handed the loss.

Miami will play in Game 2 of the series against the Giants Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. before heading to Cleveland to face the Guardians for a three-game weekend series.

Miami Open Tennis Match Story

Top 40 duo of Paul and Shelton combine to earn close Thursday victory over young Damm and Shang at Miami Open

Just one day removed from 28,132 people filling the stands on Wednesday at Hard Rock Stadium, Thursday’s Miami Open tennis matches brought even more excitement.

Court three shared most of that positive sentiment at about 5:45 in the afternoon as the gallery cheered on the entrance of Americans Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton, Martin Damm and the sole man from China, Juncheng Shang. After the group of four split into two pairs, Paul and Shelton scraped by with a 6-7, 6-3, 10-8 win.

“I think the biggest thing is that they are both used to this stage a little more,” Damm said. “I think the nerves got to us, especially to me a little bit.”

The first set of the match laid down a competitive tone for the rest of the night. Fighting back and forth, the home crowd roared mostly in the favor of Paul and Shelton as the two continued to keep it close after falling behind early.

“The crowd was amazing, even though they were for them most of the time,” Damm said, a Bradenton, Florida native. “I wish we could have more of these tournaments close to home.”

In the crucial tiebreaking game after the first set was undetermined at six per side, Damm fired the ball just passed the outstretched effort of Paul to win 7-6.

Through the crowd noise of thousands in the stands, Damm only needed a few connections in the gallery to feel embraced.

“Even though we had just a few people there, knowing they are going to be behind us 100 percent of the time, it was a great feeling,” Damm said. “I think that they helped us make this match this close.”

More would be needed to put down the talented duo of Paul and the former Florida Gator Shelton. The two are ranked at No. 19 and No. 39 in the world in singles, respectively. With so much talent, the duo responded with a quick 6-3 victory in the second set.

“I think that we needed to do a better job of bringing the energy together, making some decisive plays,” Damm said. “Most importantly, they started trading better, especially on Jerry’s serves.”

The last time the two shared the court, Paul bounced Shelton from the Australian Open in the quarterfinals of the tournament.

“It was a really cool experience, and the Aussie people were amazing, but since I’ve been back, it’s been back to normal life,” Florida native Shelton said in an interview with the Miami Herald.

Throwing rankings and expectations to the side, the players locked into another battle in the third set. Reaching the first water break in the 10-point tiebreaker, the doubles were locked up at 3-3.

With both teams communicating after each point, the talented duo of Paul and Shelton couldn’t help but pump their fists in excitement as their lead grew to 8-5.

A last-ditch effort by the IMG Academy duo of Damm and Shang wouldn’t be enough. The 19-year-old Damm couldn’t counter a ball coming across the net down 9-8, giving Paul and Shelton the final point to win the match as the flood lights drowned the hard court in Miami Gardens.

“It was great to play against them and me knowing Ben since we were 11 years old and being very, very good friends and you know Tommy and I get along pretty well,” Damm said. “Four guys, you get along well and are all friends. Super fun, exciting to be a part of.”

The Miami Open will continue Friday with massive amounts of action until winners are decided on April 2nd.