The Miami Heat has now lost two consecutive games at the buzzer. They could have received both of them or the split. Instead, Miami is now two games under.500. The Heat have had a home-heavy schedule to begin the season, so losing these early games has been difficult.
Last night, the loss to the Portland Trail Blazers seemed much harder, considering Miami played well for most of the game. Neither team performed well on Friday night in Indiana.
That’s not how a club that came within one basket of reaching the NBA Finals for the 2nd time in three years should play. Fans have already made comparisons to the bleak 2020-21 season. Miami at least had the excuse of a short off-season that year. What’s the deal now?
Once Kevin Durant remained with the Brooklyn Nets, it became apparent that the Heat had made a mistake by keeping their roster intact. Caleb Martin is a capable backup wing, not a power forward in the starting lineup. The sixth player Tyler Herro was supposed to replace; Victor Oladipo, has yet to appear in a game this year. Omer Yurtseven and Dewayne Dedmon have both failed to do so, leaving Bam Adebayo with no other options.
Martin, Max Strus, and Gabe Vincent had breakthrough seasons last year. Erik Spoelstra hasn’t had enough faith in Haywood Highsmith this season to let him participate in more than five games. Only three games have included Nikola Jovic. Jamal Cain hasn’t entered a play during the regular season yet.
The season is still ongoing. However, it is now clear that the Heat is unable to make it to the trade deadline in February without a power-forward improvement. Kyle Lowry must play like a professional athlete making $28.3 million this year. He must therefore be consistent in his offense.
Miami began the 2020–21 season with a 7–14 record. The Heat must avoid getting into that hole and believe that the objective is to avoid the play-in tournament even if we have not reached that point yet.
The Heat will host the Charlotte Hornets in their next two games. Winning both will help the situation improve. But it would only be the beginning.