Most NBA games are about the "Yes, but..." Not true for Miami's obliteration of Memphis, though, a night full of nothing but "Yes" as the Heat paid off a preseason talking about pace and offense with a little bit of history. Takeaways: www.nba.com/heat/news/co...

All sunshine and gravy for the Heat tonight, but worth noting that their Off Rating finished at 130.4. Not that the second half mattered much, this is only to note that at their pace (112 possessions) we actually have to adjust their efficiency down for the first time in a while.

That wasn't any hot shooting half, that was a complete obliteration of Memphis' defense in every aspect of the game.

This is officially the highest scoring half in Heat history, and it's not over.

Nobody is going to sustain an Offensive Rating of 163.0 like Miami just put up in the first quarter, but most important thing right now is they very clearly did not waste their time in training camp and preseason. This wasn't a token "We want to play fast."

Any concerns about spacing with the Bam-Ware lineup immediately goes out the door if Bam is shooting 3-of-3 from the arc.

The result(s) wasn't there as Orlando took late control on the glass, but the Heat put all their preseason words into action when it came to running an up-tempo, quick-decision offense - driven tonight by Norm Powell and Davion Mitchell. Takeaways: www.nba.com/heat/news/co...

And we have ourselves another clutch Heat game.

This is not your... *checks notes* ...friend from any year ever's Heat-Magic.

Heat's new offense is definitely generating the pace, drives and threes that they want. The flip side of that is they only took three shots at the rim in the first period.

Season hasn't started until the Heat have made all their first quarter threes.

Erik Spoelstra hasn't just had the Heat playing faster, they're running their entire offense differently...so far. As he continues to toggle the sliders, the process, if not the results, has been working as intended. www.nba.com/heat/news/co...

No movie has ever been carried by its soundtrack harder than Nine Inch Nails carries Tron: Ares. Is it a good movie? No. But it is a pretty great theater experience with the right sound system.

Miami's preseason prescription for more offense has been for speed and playmaking, and Nikola Jovic is filling the need for both. Plus, the numbers behind their quest for tempo and the early chemistry between Jakucionis and Ware. Notebook Vol. 96: www.nba.com/heat/news/co...

Forget about the preseason stats. Forget about the record. There is something happening with Nikola Jovic, and it may be the key to the Heat getting their offensive changes to stick. Let's talk about it. After The Buzzer: youtu.be/HQmznJwuHew...

Erik Spoelstra full-court pressing an inbound after a stoppage. We're back.

As the Miami Heat exit training camp, their roster is full of knowns that tell us how good they are, and unknowns that tell us how good they could be. On everything Erik Spoelstra has to figure out, and what even he doesn't know yet. www.nba.com/heat/news/co...

Had a great time chatting with every player on the roster today (plus Spo) for our YouTube Livestream. You can catch the replay here, just fast forward during the breaks: www.youtube.com/live/vG2-XaG...

Everything you’ve heard about One Battle After Another is true. Generational movie

NEW After The Buzzer Podcast: Sat down with Davion Mitchell to discuss his youth, his defense, why he always carries a ball, wearing his own jersey in public and a story about Spo you've never heard before. On YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. youtu.be/FUhCoiiGLvY?...

NEW After The Buzzer Podcast: Sat down with Davion Mitchell to discuss his youth, his defense, why he always carries a ball, wearing his own jersey in public and a story about Spo you've never heard before. On YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. youtu.be/FUhCoiiGLvY?...

Will always say that lists, at least lists done with proper intent, are very hard to make. But considering this was a democratic process, I'm surprised Ian McKellen's Gandalf didn't show up. www.theringer.com/2025/08/25/m...

Has it been long enough that we can discuss how awful the stinger was for Fantastic Four? Actually managed to sap enthusiasm out of my soul.

It's mid-August and the three best movies this year are all horror. What a time. Don't know that that's ever happened before, especially in a way where even non-horror fans would agree. (Black Bag is in the discussion, though.)

One episode in, Alien: Earth very, very clearly has the juice.

The main issue with Happy Gilmore 2 - beyond the silly, presumably Netflix mandated clips from the original to sell callback jokes - is that most of the cameos aren’t naturally funny people, only highlighted by Jon Lovitz earning a big laugh in all of 15 seconds.

Still think it’s fine, but the more I sit with FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS the more I think, given time and context, it may be the safest and least ambitious project in the entire MCU. It’s startling how disinterested it is in being interesting beyond character sketches.

FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS is aggressively fine while serving its characters well for future projects, but the MCU was built on many aggressively fine movies - with exceptions- that served its characters well for future projects. So, it’s all fine, if not encouraging.

SUPERMAN (2025): Sometimes it’s better, preferable even, to nail the concept over the execution. Acts as a foundation for the new DC line more like X-MEN (2000) than IRON MAN, and that’s just fine. A good, earnest time that feels like it could have six separate director’s cuts.

Saying hello to Norm Powell and Simone Fontecchio, goodbye to Duncan, Kevin and Kyle, and all the basketball in between. Plus, what makes Powell a seamless fit for a Miami (and any, really) offense that needs his point-to-point juice. After The Buzzer: youtu.be/Iufdcsf6-8g?...

Saying hello to Norm Powell and Simone Fontecchio, goodbye to Duncan, Kevin and Kyle, and all the basketball in between. Plus, what makes Powell a seamless fit for a Miami (and any, really) offense that needs his point-to-point juice. After The Buzzer: youtu.be/Iufdcsf6-8g?...

As they brought back Davion Mitchell, they sent out shooting Duncan Robinson and acquired shooting in Norm Powell. How does it all fit together? Plus, early Summer League returns for Jakucionis, Ware and Larsson. Notebook Vol. 95: www.nba.com/heat/news/co...

A lot of Summer League in this Summer League game so far, but Jakucionis has already thrown a couple beautiful passes.

Currently a scoreboard issue that is causing a delay in Heat-Spurs.

For as much as F1 is an absolute experience in IMAX, with a killer Zimmer score and Kerry Condon being everything, the difference between it and Top Gun: Maverick is that I wanted to watch Maverick again at home.

Usually when a surprise movie comes out of nowhere the word of mouth buzz online far outpaces any conversations in person, but the opposite has been true for KPop Demon Hunters. Though that may just be the soundtrack having burrowed itself into my brain.

Took a stab, don't feel great about it. There's a point where the scope of a list becomes so broad, with a Top 10 being so narrow, it almost defeats the purpose of it. Will probably have to do a full Top 100 myself to feel as though justice is being done.

After The Buzzer is back and, after some thoughts and analysis about the Kasparas Jakucionis pick, we've got an exclusive 1-on-1 with Kasparas himself. youtu.be/CRBpUSOo0is?...

Learning NBA Point Guard at 19 is no easy task, but somewhere down the developmental road Kasparas Jakucionis could become a player that changes a Heat offense that needs it. On what the playoffs tell us about the potential impact of Miami's addition. www.nba.com/heat/news/co...

Learning NBA Point Guard at 19 is no easy task, but somewhere down the developmental road Kasparas Jakucionis could become a player that changes a Heat offense that needs it. On what the playoffs tell us about the potential impact of Miami's addition. www.nba.com/heat/news/co...

On a related note, 28 YEARS LATER will rightfully be on a lot of Top 10 lists at the end of the year. There's making *choices* as a writer or director, already a respectful endeavor, and then there's making *choices* that work almost across the board.

Saw the movie list that has Memories of Murder behind Black Panther and Michael Clayton behind Interstellar. That'll be enough of the movie list for today.

Every year a movie comes along that offers you nothing more than an existential crisis. With no mercy, Disney has done it twice in a couple months with their “live action” “remakes” of SNOW WHITE and LILO & STITCH. At least they’ll run out of movies to do this to eventually.

If I meet you, and you happen to be someone involved in the making of the flamethrower sequence in BALLERINA - a sequence so good my chest swelled with emotion midway through - then I will buy you a drink.

I am going to be thinking about the Finale of The Rehearsal S2 for…probably the rest of my life?

All the Mission Impossibles are at least good, including 2 which gets way too much hate, but… 6 . 1 5 . . 7 3 4 8 . 2

Nobody will want to admit it, but…

THE FINAL RECKONING is a spectacularly, insultingly, dumb piece of broad-audience engineered entertainment, its script only saved by the quality of performers delivering it. Truly death by inane exposition. It also has two of the best stunt sequences you’ll likely ever see.

Was the most recent The Last of Us that good, or did it just look better compared to recent episodes because it brought back/in a bunch of heavy hitter veteran actors? (Thought it was fine, surprised at some of the praise.)