It has all been leading up to this. 81 games of basketball for the Miami Heat, an ensemble of 15 men playing in unison their symphony. A season’s worth of hopes and dreams, culminating in…
41 minutes for Zoran Dragic?
For context, the Zragon had seen 34 minutes total up until this point in his career, making two shots in that time. Is that the kind of guy you want to reward with huge amounts of playing time?
It makes sense, though. The Heat foolishly traded their first-round pick this season for some no-name scrub; they get to keep it if it’s high enough. A loss tonight meant a significantly higher chance of that happening. So the Heat did what they could to lose, playing 6 dudes, with only Zoran and Udonis Haslem not playing the whole game. And, as they have been doing to teams for a while now, the 76ers outtanked them.
Heat fans are probably pissed, but I’m excited. Zoran finally has shown that he’s not in the league just because of his more talented brother, but rather because he is a decent player in his own right. Take that, Seth Curry!