‘Growing pains’ continue vs. Clippers. Takeaways from Heat’s fifth straight loss
In a battle of short-handed rosters, the Los Angeles Clippers came out on top.
With both sides missing a few of its best players, Thursday’s result wasn’t the most indicative of where the Miami Heat and Clippers stand. But the result was still a painful one for the Heat.
The Heat dropped its fifth straight game in a 109-105 loss to the Clippers (14-5) on Thursday at AmericanAirlines Arena. Miami, which represented the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals last season, is 6-12 to begin this season.
This is the Heat’s first five-game losing skid since the 2017-18 season.
“I know this team is special,” Heat guard Tyler Herro said when asked about the team’s ongoing struggles. “Coming into training camp, this team is as good as last year’s team that I was on. ... Just sitting here dealing with what we can control, things haven’t gone our way. No one feels sorry for us. There are no excuses. We’re just going to have to continue to get better and hopefully one day we can get everyone back and show everyone what we’re made of.”
The Heat is 0-2 to begin its six-game homestand, with a Saturday night matchup against Sacramento Kings up next.
“It’s growing pains, man,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “That is all I can really say. We’re trying to figure it out. We’re playing as hard as we can, trying to get some wins. You just have to take one step in front of the other, keep going, keep pushing and keep staying positive.”
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s loss to the Clippers:
The day began with encouraging Heat news, as Jimmy Butler was upgraded to questionable for the first time since he went out more than two weeks ago. But in the end, the Heat again fielded a depleted roster.
Not only was Butler (health and safety protocols) out Thursday, but so was Avery Bradley (right knee contusion) Goran Dragic (left groin strain), Moe Harkless (left thigh contusion), Andre Iguodala (neck spasms), Meyers Leonard (left shoulder strain) and Chris Silva (left hip flexor strain).
The Heat entered its matchup against the Clippers with just 10 available players.
But Butler, who missed his 10th straight game Thursday, is expected to make his return soon.
There’s optimism that Butler will be able to return for Saturday’s game against the Kings, according to a league source. The five-time All-Star has not played since the Heat’s Jan. 9 road win over the Washington Wizards.
Butler has played in just six of the Heat’s first 17 games. In casual clothes, he watched Thursday’s game from the Heat’s bench alongside teammates for the second consecutive night.
As for Bradley and Iguodala, their injuries are new after both played in Wednesday’s loss to the Nuggets.
Bradley missed Thursday’s game after returning to play Wednesday following an eight-game absence stemming from a COVID-19 diagnosis. But Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Bradley’s knee contusion is “not too serious.”
Iguodala, who turned 37 on Thursday, was a late scratch because of a stiff neck.
“We do have to acknowledge there are a lot of moving parts,” Spoelstra said following Thursday’s loss. “That makes it unique, but you can’t make an excuse for it. You just have to continue to grind, to learn, to compete for each other, get better. ... We’ll be getting guys back soon enough. It might be piecemeal, it might be one guy at a time. But it doesn’t matter. They’re on their way whenever.”
Herro was able to return from injury after missing the past seven games with neck spasms. But Herro wasn’t able to find his rhythm until late in the game, and Adebayo was not his usual efficient self.
Herro was rusty early in his return before finding his rhythm late to finish with a game-high 19 points on 8-of-21 shooting, 10 rebounds and five assists in 32 minutes. He scored 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting in the fourth quarter.
“He has had some really good days of training,” Spoelstra said. “So his wind was actually pretty good. His timing, that’s to be expected on some of the plays. It’s not the rhythm that he was in when he was playing before. But he really helps. His playmaking, his ability to do things off the dribble and in the paint, his shot-making is something that we really need.”
Herro admitted he was somewhat surprised that he was forced to miss seven games because of his neck injury.
“At first I thought it was just something where I slept on my neck wrong,” he said. “I guess the way my neck was responding, it didn’t allow me to go out and play. Every time I would turn my neck, I would have some pain in my shoulder area. I’m glad I’m back.”
Adebayo, who entered averaging 20.3 points on 59.7 percent shooting, finished with 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting. He also recorded 13 rebounds and seven assists.
Adebayo and Herro combined to score 35 points on 37 shots, which wasn’t efficient enough with Butler and Dragic out.
The result: The Heat posted an underwhelming offensive rating of 106.1 points per 100 possessions on Thursday.
After shooting 50 percent from the field and 8-of-13 on threes in the first quarter, the Heat shot 42.4 percent from the field and 5-of-20 from three-point range over the final three quarters.
It’s just the continuation of Miami’s offensive struggles without Butler and others to begin the season. The Heat owns the NBA’s fourth-worst offensive rating (scoring 105.1 points per 100 possessions) this season.
The Clippers were also without a few of their most important players, but they hit enough threes to make up for it.
The Clippers’ superstar duo of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard were not with the team and did not play Thursday against the Heat because of the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Guard Patrick Beverley (right knee soreness) also missed the contest.
Leonard (25.9 points per game) and George (23.9 points per game) are the Clippers’ top two scorers.
Without those two, Los Angeles was missing a big chunk of its offense. But the Clippers made up for it with 17-of-42 (40.5 percent) shooting on threes.
Veteran forward Nicolas Batum led the Clippers’ three-point push with a 6-of-9 shooting performance from deep to finish with a team-high 18 points.
Los Angeles’ efficiency from outside negated its inefficient 42.2 percent shooting on two-point attempts.
With the Clippers earning a win over the Heat without George and Leonard on Thursday, it’s worth noting that Los Angeles has outscored opponents by 127 points with its two stars on the court together and has been outscored by 43 points when both are not playing this season.
For the first time since the NBA suspended the 2019-20 season on March 11 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Heat hosted fans at AmericanAirlines Arena on Thursday.
The Heat opened the downtown Miami arena to host about 1,500 season-ticket holders — less than 10 percent of the building’s usual capacity — starting with Thursday’s matchup against the Clippers. COVID-19-sniffing dogs were used to screen fans, employees and others before entering, as the Heat became the first NBA team to try this approach.
Among the strict guidelines fans had to follow while inside the arena: All fans over the age of 2 have to wear a mask covering their mouth and noise unless consuming a drink in designated areas where it’s permitted. Also, drinks (soda and water only) were sold but could not be consumed in the arena bowl or concourses, and food was not available for purchase.
The plan, depending on the course of the pandemic, is to eventually increase the amount of fans allowed to attend home games to about 3,000 by the end of February.
The Heat began allowing about 100 family members, and team and player guests attend home games in late December.
Thursday also marked the return of former Heat assistant coach Dan Craig.
After spending 17 years with the Heat, Craig moved on to become the Clippers’ associate head coach on Tyronn Lue’s staff.
Craig, 39, spent the past four seasons as a Heat assistant on Spoelstra’s staff. Craig began his Heat career as a video intern in 2003-04.
The Heat acknowledged Craig’s return on the AmericanAirlines Arena video screen during a timeout in the first quarter.
“We’re like brothers in this profession,” Spoelstra said of Craig before Thursday’s game. “It will be weird to see him tonight. We texted yesterday, and that’s just how strange this all is. We haven’t been able to see each other. He comes into Miami and he couldn’t even leave, like all of us, couldn’t leave the hotel.”
This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 10:34 PM.
