Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat coach, stated that he did not bring up the Spurs’ bad track record when speaking to his team before Saturday’s game against them.
Before the game, Spoelstra said, “That’s just way too dangerous.”
The Spurs entered the game with a 7-18 record, the joint-worst record in the Western Conference, but Spoelstra showed his foresight as the Heat eventually fell to San Antonio 115-111 at FTX Arena.
On Saturday, Miami (12-15) took an initial lead and held it for the rest of the first quarter. San Antonio outscored the Heat 34-28 in the second quarter to go ahead at the break.
With the help of Tyler Herro’s prolific shooting, the Heat regained the lead in the third quarter. With 7:02 remaining in the third, the Miami guard made four 3-pointers to help the Heat gain a seven-point advantage. But it wasn’t enough to keep Miami in the lead. At the end of three quarters, the Spurs were still in front by two points.
In the fourth quarter, the teams engaged in a dogfight as they traded blows, but the Spurs regained the lead early on and resisted the Heat’s attempt to rally.
With 14 seconds left in the game, Miami had a chance to win it, but the Heat could not make a shot that would have won it.
From the match on Saturday, Five Degrees of Heat:
- Another painful defeat: Miami has already lost to one of the worst NBA teams this week, losing 116-96 to Detroit at home on Tuesday. The Heat suffered another difficult loss against a struggling team, this time against one of the worst Western Conference squads.
- Points in the paint: Before Saturday’s game, the Heat had allowed an NBA-low 44.9 points in the paint. However, the struggling Spurs still outscored them with 54 points in the paint.
In keeping the Spurs, Miami’s defense had trouble. From the field, San Antonio had a 53.8% shooting percentage.
- Out-rebounded: San Antonio outperformed Miami in the paint was another sign of it. The Heat had 32 while the Spurs grabbed 46 rebounds.
- Victor Oladipo played well for the Heat on Saturday after being absentees and missing the first 24 games of the season with a knee injury. He logged a season-high 23 minutes of playing time, scored 11 points, grabbed three rebounds, and made three assists. In the fourth quarter, he did, however, foul out.
- The Heat’s victory over the Clippers on Thursday was missed by forward Duncan Robinson, who had missed eight of Miami’s previous 11 games due to a left ankle sprain. But Robinson returned to the court on Saturday, making a brief appearance in the third quarter.
Robinson played eight minutes and scored three points. Prior to the game, Robinson averaged 17 points per game.