Takeaways from third straight Heat loss, as cold shooting continues and timeout goes unheard
The Miami Heat’s offense was the driving force behind so many of its wins last season. This season, the offense has been the reason for a bunch of its losses.
The Heat (22-21) again struggled to find an offensive rhythm in a 109-106 overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers (19-22) on Sunday afternoon at AmericanAirlines Arena. It marked the Heat’s third straight loss and its second straight to the Pacers after also falling to Indiana at home on Friday.
“Losing sucks. It’s either winning or misery,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said, with the Heat winning 11 of its 12 games before this current three-game skid. “... Nobody wants to lose three games in a row, especially considering we fought back from being at the bottom of the East.”
Miami shot an inefficient 40.2 percent from the field and 9 of 37 (24.3 percent) on threes on Sunday, just two days after shooting 9 of 34 on threes in Friday’s loss to Indiana.
Despite the Heat’s offensive issues, it was able to keep it close because of its defense. The Pacers’ offense also struggled, shooting 38.8 percent from the field and 15 of 45 on threes.
It looked like the Heat was on its way to rallying for a dramatic comeback win, when it closed the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run to force overtime.
Miami then opened overtime on a 5-0 run to take a five-point lead. But Indiana responded with back-to-back threes from Justin Holiday to pull ahead by one with 2:32 remaining overtime.
The Heat never led again.
Jimmy Butler, who finished with 21 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists in 42 minutes, missed a game-tying three as the final buzzer sounded in overtime. He also had a chance to give the Heat a lead in the final seconds of regulation, but he made just one of two free throws with 12.2 seconds remaining to leave the game tied at 98.
“Didn’t get stops. Didn’t score. Part of the game,” Butler said of the defeat. “Nobody likes to lose, don’t get me wrong. It shouldn’t have to come down to being up five in overtime. We did so much bad throughout the game. It’s karma, we didn’t deserve to win.”
Seven Pacers players finished with double-digit points, led by 17 points and 11 rebounds from Domantas Sabonis.
The Heat is 0-2 on its current four-game homestand, which continues Tuesday against the surging Phoenix Suns.
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s loss to the Pacers:
Erik Spoelstra tried to call a timeout prior to the Heat’s final possession in overtime, but the officials again did not hear him through his mask.
It has happened to Spoelstra before late in games this season, and it happened at a critical moment again Sunday.
Pacers wing Caris LeVert missed a three-pointer with 7.2 seconds remaining in overtime, and Butler grabbed the rebound with the Heat trailing by three points. Spoelstra attempted to call timeout after Butler came away with the rebound, but the officials didn’t hear him through his mask.
Instead, Butler rushed up the court and missed a pull-up three in an attempt to tie the game as the overtime buzzer sounded.
“I’m not going to get in here and just crush the officials,” Spoelstra said when asked about that moment. “I think everybody needs a little bit of grace right now with everything that’s going on. It is challenging, obviously, with masks and hearing everybody. I called a timeout. You probably could see it and hear it. But also I think more importantly, it’s just the common sense part of it that I would call a timeout there.”
Butler said he did not hear Spoelstra try to call a timeout after he grabbed the rebound, adding “I guess I need to pay attention to him within the game a little bit more. But I’m taking that shot.”
Spoelstra said the officials missed another Heat timeout earlier in Sunday’s game, but that one resulted in points.
“There were two missed timeouts really and we benefited from one of them,” Spoelstra said. “We pitched ahead to Tyler [Herro] and I was calling timeout. The official heard me, did not call it. We scored on that one. They looked back at me and kind of shrugged like, ‘Well you benefited from it anyway.’ It’s just unfortunate.”
The Heat again struggled to make outside shots despite a decent amount of open looks.
Miami, which entered with the NBA’s fourth-worst team three-point shooting percentage at 34.5, shot 9 of 37 (24.3 percent) from three-point range in Sunday’s loss.
“We can’t worry about that. We’re going to miss shots,” Adebayo said. “That can’t dictate the game. We had a chance to win. Bottom line. No matter how bad we shot from three, we had a chance to win.”
Three of the Heat’s best shooters continued to miss most of their three-point attempts.
Kelly Olynyk, who has gone from shooting a career-best 40.6 percent on threes to a career-low 32.2 percent this season, finished with seven points and shot 1 of 7 from deep on Sunday. He has made 3 of his past 30 three-point shots.
Herro, who went from shooting 38.9 percent on threes as a rookie last season to 31.7 percent this season, finished with 11 points and shot 0 of 7 from three-point range on Sunday. He has made 7 of his past 38 shots from behind the arc.
Duncan Robinson, which turned in an all-time great shooting season with a 44.6 three-point percentage last season, finished with 13 points and shot 3 of 11 on threes on Sunday. He’s shooting 38.2 percent from deep this season and has made 8 of his past 30 three-point attempts.
“I think that’s part of mental toughness is continuing to shoot shots that you’re capable of making that are great shots for your offense, whether it’s going in or not,” Spoelstra said of the Heat’s shooters remaining aggressive. “You cannot become obsessed with the result. It’s more about our process of how we’re trying to play. Certainly if we make a higher percentage of those shots, the tenor of the game could feel a lot different.”
As a team, the Heat has shot just 26 of 105 (24.8 percent) on threes during its current three-game losing skid.
Even in a loss, Adebayo had a moment to remember.
With 9:34 remaining in the third quarter, the Heat’s star center completed one of the best dunks of his career over Sabonis.
How did it happen?
Adebayo dumped off the dribble handoff to Robinson on the wing and immediately rolled to the basket. Robinson made the clean pocket bounce pass to the rolling Adebayo, who caught the ball at the free-throw line and did not even need one dribble to complete the dunk.
Adebayo took off from a few feet in front of the three-point line and threw the dunk down over Sabonis, who attempted to draw a charge. The official initially called an offensive foul on Adebayo, but the Heat challenged the play and the call was overturned.
Instead, a foul was called on Sabonis and Adebayo completed the three-point play with a free throw.
“It shocked everybody because I don’t usually jump off one leg,” Adebayo said of the dunk. “So it was a shocker to everybody that I jumped off of one leg. Great play.”
Adebayo finished with a team-high 29 points, to go with 10 rebounds, two assists, three blocks and two steals. He completed five dunks Sunday.
Trevor Ariza played in his second game with the Heat, and he was relied on to log some important minutes.
After finishing his Heat debut scoreless in one six-minute stint on Friday, Ariza recorded five points on 1-of-4 shooting on threes and four rebounds in 19 minutes on Sunday. He also had some bright defensive moments, with Ariza showing off his switchability and also recording two blocks and one steal.
Ariza, 35, played the entire overtime period as the Heat’s small-ball four, alongside Herro, Robinson, Butler and Adebayo.
These first two games with the Heat after the trade have marked Ariza’s first since March 10, 2020.
The Heat again was without three veterans on Sunday. But this time Andre Iguodala played and Goran Dragic did not.
After playing in the previous 11 games, Dragic missed Sunday’s contest because of lower back spasms. It marked the 15th game that Dragic, 34, has missed this season.
In addition to Dragic, the Heat was also without guard Avery Bradley (right calf strain) and forward Udonis Haslem (health and safety protocols because of contact tracing) on Sunday.
Iguodala returned after missing the previous two games because of left hip soreness. He finished with two points, two rebounds and three assists in 20 minutes.
This story was originally published March 21, 2021 at 3:49 PM.
