Heat facing three-game losing skid, but gets good news as Kyle Lowry rejoins team
The Miami Heat has faced plenty of adversity this season. Just consider that the Heat’s leading trio of Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry haven’t played together in more than two months since late November because of a long list of injury and other issues.
But one thing the Heat hasn’t faced much of? Extended losing streaks.
The Heat is in the middle of one at the moment, as Tuesday’s 110-106 road loss to the Toronto Raptors marked its third straight defeat. It’s just the second time this season that the Heat has dropped three consecutive games.
“These kind of opportunities during the course of a season, I think are really important when it doesn’t feel great,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, as the Heat completed a rare stretch of four games in five nights on Tuesday. “Where you have to battle against fatigue and traveling and four games in five nights, I think it builds character. ... These will be teaching moments for our team.”
The Heat (32-20) is 0-2 to begin its six-game trip, which continues Thursday against the San Antonio Spurs (8:30 p.m., Bally Sports Sun). Miami’s game in San Antonio was originally scheduled for Dec. 29, but it was postponed because the Heat was left without the league-minimum of eight available players amid COVID-19 and injury issues.
The only other time the Heat faced a three-game losing streak this season was in November.
But the Heat received good news on Wednesday, as Lowry rejoined the team in San Antonio and is listed as questionable for Thursday’s game against the Spurs. Lowry has missed the last nine games because of undisclosed personal reasons, with the Heat posting a 5-4 record in his absence.
“This builds character,” Adebayo said following Tuesday’s loss in Toronto. “This is going to build character for our team from one through 15 and the coaches. This has been the first real time we’ve had real adversity with losses, dropping three straight. We usually always find a way to win. But this is the first time we’re having real adversity and it’s going to build character.”
The Heat, which began the week in first place in the Eastern Conference, entered Wednesday in third place in the East percentage points behind the second-place Philadelphia 76ers and one game behind the first-place Chicago Bulls.
A few consecutive losses have made this a tough stretch for the Heat. But so has the schedule, with fatigue seemingly setting in for Miami as Toronto won the second half on Tuesday 60-44 in the Heat’s fourth game in five nights.
The Heat shot 16 of 40 (40 percent) from the field and 2 of 16 (12.5 percent) on threes while committing nine turnovers in the second half against the Raptors.
“I think we ran out of gas, if I’m being honest,” Adebayo said following Tuesday’s defeat. “I think in my career this is the first time that we’ve played four games in five nights. ... I think a lot of us ran out of gas.”
But Tuesday also represented the continuation of a trend for the Heat, as its late-game offense has been shaky this season.
The Heat, which recorded a subpar clutch offensive rating of 83.3 points scored per 100 possessions on Tuesday, owns a solid record of 15-10 in clutch games this season. A clutch game is defined as one that has a margin of five points or fewer inside the final five minutes of the fourth quarter.
Miami’s success in clutch situations has come in spite of its offense at times this season. The Heat has posted the NBA’s fifth-worst clutch offensive rating (97.7 points scored per 100 possessions) compared to the fourth-best clutch defensive rating (98.1 points allowed per 100 possessions).
Also, the Heat has shot just 38.5 percent from the field and 35 percent from three-point range in clutch situations this season, when the game typically slows down and teams need to rely more on half-court sets. Miami has featured an average half-court offense this season, ranked 14th among 30 teams in that area.
Those numbers are well below the Heat’s overall offensive metrics. In all situations, Miami has shot 45.9 percent from the field and 37.5 percent on threes while posting the NBA’s seventh-best offensive rating (112 points scored per 100 possessions) this season.
“I don’t have a problem with the looks,” Spoelstra said when asked about the Heat’s late-game offense in Tuesday’s loss to the Raptors. “It’s not about how many points anybody scores or any of that. We found a way to function.”
Lowry’s impending return will help the Heat’s late-game offense. The veteran point guard has totaled 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field, 2-of-8 shooting on threes and 6-of-7 shooting from the foul line in clutch situations this season.
“He’s so smart, he’s so intelligent that he makes guys better,” Adebayo said when asked how much the Heat has missed Lowry late in close games. “The late game, I feel like he would have got guys a lot more open shots and just facilitated the offense.”
Spoelstra added on Lowry: “We understand all the things that we’re missing. But this is bigger than that. We stay connected. I communicate with him every day and everybody else, as well. He’s a part of our family now and we just want to be there for him. The basketball stuff, we can work that all out.”
Even after dropping the first two games, the Heat still has time to salvage the trip with four games remaining before it returns to Miami.
“We’re not even halfway through this trip,” Spoelstra said. “So we’ll have some days to recover.”
▪ Along with Lowry, the Heat listed Butler (left big toe irritation), Caleb Martin (left Achilles soreness) and P.J. Tucker (left knee irritation) as questionable for Thursday’s game against the Spurs.
Markieff Morris (return to competition recovery), KZ Okpala (right wrist sprain), Victor Oladipo (right knee injury recovery) and Omer Yurtseven (health and safety protocols) have been ruled out.
This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 11:56 AM.
