Notes on a Monday night:
### A playoff series that never felt like much of one is thankfully over, and now the Heat will be off either until Sunday (if Nets-Raptors ends Friday night) or at least until Tuesday otherwise.
“Advantages and disadvantages,” Wade said of the upcoming layoff. “We are going to be professional and work on our individual selves. The disadvantage is you’re out of rhythm playing in games.” (As we saw in Game 1 in the second round against Chicago last year, when the Bulls stunned the Heat, 93-86, after a long Heat layoff. Miami then won four in a row.)
Wade said closing this out Monday was important because “If you got a team on the ropes, you don’t want to [give them] life. This was a good series for us. They pushed us. Obviously, we felt we were the better team…. To be able to be aggressive the way I was, it was a good step in the right direction.”
The Heat --- which will play the winner of the Toronto-Brooklyn series --- won’t know until after 10:30 p.m. Friday whether it will have a game on Sunday.
“Nobody knows what to expect in that series,” Wade said. “Two different styles totally. We’ll be ready for either one.”
### Amazing that if the Wizards and Hawks win one more game to close out their first round series, one of those teams would be assured a spot in the Eastern Finals. Thursday's Indiana-Atlanta Game 6 stands as one of the more anticipated first-round games in recent years, considering the potential consequences on the Pacers franchise.
### LeBron James shook off the thigh contusion to finish with 31 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists. "The thigh is definitely sore. So fortunately we were able to close out tonight and I can get some rest."
### Wade played 30 minutes tonight, and Erik Spoelstra said: "I don't think we can push him to 40 minutes yet."
### Even though the decision to play James Jones was driven initially by matchups, Spoelstra --- in the next series --- will be hard-pressed to ignore either his performance or how well the Heat has played with Jones on the floor.
Since Spoelstra started playing him regularly on March 28, Jones is 26 for 53 on three-pointers, and the Heat has outscored opponents by 112 points in 11 games during the minutes when Jones was on the court. Jones was a plus-46 in 64 minutes of the Bobcats series, including a plus-eight tonight.
### Norris Cole continued his playoff renaissance after a dreadful second half of the season. He’s now 12 for 23 overall and 6 for 10 on threes in these playoffs.
“Zero turnovers --- that’s the first thing I look at with him,” Spoelstra observed, while studying Cole’s line in the box score after his 13-point, 4-assist night. “Offensively, he made strides this series of getting us organized, making other players better. He’s one of our better shooters, when you line him up in the gym and let him shoot.”
### LeBron and Wade went over to embrace Bobcats owner Michael Jordan after the game. “Congratulated him on a great season,” LeBron said. "He told us to stay healthy and keep it going."
Afterward, James also embraced Josh McRoberts, who delivered an elbow to his throat in Game 2.
### Please see the last post for a retrospective on the life of Hall of Fame coach and former Heat TV analyst Jack Ramsay, who was a remarkable man.
### The Dolphins have used a handful of their 30 permitted pre-draft visits on prospects who weren’t invited to the NFL Combine, and add Middle Tennessee cornerback Sammy Seamster to that list of player who visited team headquarters. He previously was timed at 4.3 in the 40.
"I think a mixture of size and speed is what [the scouts] like the most about me," said Seamster, who had a career-high 33 tackles, two fumble recoveries and one interception last season.
### Alabama offensive tackle Cyrus Koaundjio --- who attended the Combine but struggled with injuries and inconsistency last season --- also visited Davie, as reported by the Palm Beach Post’s Andrew Abramson. Draft analyst Tony Pauline said Miami won’t consider him in Round 1, but he’s a possibility if he’s available in the second round.
### UM is one of the five schools being considered by four-star Jersey City-based prospect Brandon Wimbush, rated by rivals.com as the sixth-best pro-style quarterback in the 2015 class, and 203rd overall.
“They have a decent chance,” Wimbush told Canesport.com. “My relationship [with UM offensive coordinator James] Coley is awesome.”
Wimbush also is considering Ohio State, Penn State, Virginia Tech and Boston College.
### The inaugural Miami Beach Bowl, to be held in late December at Marlins Park, plans to match BYU (assuming they’re draft-eligible) against a team from the American Athletic Conference (ideally not Houston, UCF or Connecticut --- all of whom BYU plays during the regular season).
### The Marlins need more consistent bullpen work, but hard-throwing reliever Henry Rodriguez --- who was very good at times in spring training --- continues to alternately impress and exasperate at Triple A. He has 23 strikeouts and only six hits and four runs allowed in 12 innings at Triple A New Orleans. But he also has walked 16.
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