Erik Spoelstra laments Heat’s ‘wasted day’ in Dallas, as theme of inconsistency continues
.JPG "Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra looks on during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023.")
With just 35 games remaining on the regular-season schedule and ground to make up in the Eastern Conference standings after a slow start, the Miami Heat doesn’t have much time to waste.
That was the frustrating part of Friday night’s ugly 115-90 road loss to the Dallas Mavericks for Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.
“There are some days in this league you’re just not going to play well,” Spoelstra said, as the Heat’s three-game trip came to a close at 1-2. “There are some days where you’re just going to get beat. There are some days you’re just going to get beat convincingly, sometimes. What was disappointing about tonight is it was just a wasted day. We didn’t get better. We don’t have a lot of days to kick down the road like that.”
What once could be labeled as early-season struggles has turned into an ongoing theme of maddening inconsistency that could quickly become what defines the Heat’s 2022-23 season if it doesn’t find more consistent answers in the weeks ahead.
After closing last regular season as the East’s top playoff seed on its way to finishing just one win short from reaching the NBA Finals, the Heat entered Saturday in sixth place in the East with a 25-22 record. Next up for the Heat is a three-game homestand that opens Sunday against the New Orleans Pelicans (3:30 p.m., Bally Sports Sun).
“I just don’t like as a head coach wasting nights,” Spoelstra continued, “particularly as we’re trying to gain some rhythm and get our health and get everybody on the same page.”
That comment came just hours after Spoelstra spoke during his pregame media session about the “need to maximize these moments and impact winning” as health allowed the Heat to use its preferred starting lineup of Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin and Bam Adebayo together for the second consecutive game and just the 16th time this season on Friday.
Instead, the Heat’s starting unit was outscored by 13 points in 14 minutes together against the Mavericks. That included a 14-8 deficit to open the game and then allowing Dallas to begin the second half on a 15-6 run before Miami turned to its bench.
“We definitely have to start the quarters better as a starting unit,” Herro said. “That’s our responsibility to get the team off to a good start.”
The Heat’s three-point shooting also clearly must be better moving forward.
Dallas outscored Miami 54-12 from three-point range on Friday, as Miami shot just 4 of 20 (20 percent) from beyond the arc. The Mavericks’ 42-point advantage tied for the third-biggest three-point deficit in a game for the Heat in franchise history.
What’s most concerning is the season-long trend of inefficient outside shooting. The Heat entered Saturday with the NBA’s fifth-worst team three-point percentage at 33.7 percent after finishing last regular season as the league’s most efficient three-point shooting team at 37.9 percent.
“It was just one of those nights,” Herro said following Friday’s loss. “Shots weren’t falling. We didn’t hit any threes for the most part that can really get us in a good groove, in a good rhythm on offense. It was a lot of tough buckets, twos, which are good for us. But we got to generate more threes.”
The last month-plus has actually included more good than bad for the Heat. Miami has won 13 of the last 20 games following a 12-15 start to the season.
But one thing the Heat hasn’t done during this stretch is earn many quality wins, taking advantage of a soft spot in its schedule during this 20-game span. Of the Heat’s 13 wins during this stretch, nine came against teams that entered Saturday with a sub-.500 record and one came against a team that entered Saturday with a .500 record.
The only three victories during this stretch against teams currently with winning records were two over the Milwaukee Bucks and one over the Pelicans. Both teams were missing some of their best players in those games, as the Bucks were without starters Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton and the Pelicans did not have starters Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson and Herbert Jones in those matchups against the Heat.
“If we are who we want to be, you’re going to have to somehow overcome great performances, great players and great teams and find a way to get the job done,” Spoelstra said prior to Friday’s loss in Dallas.
Of course, the Heat also has dealt with its own injury issues along the way and has navigated them to reach late January with a winning record. Miami entered Saturday with the second-most missed games in the NBA (197 missed games) this season due to injury, according to Spotrac.
The Heat is as healthy as it has been all season now, though, and it doesn’t have many days left to waste.
The upcoming homestand includes matchups against the Pelicans on Sunday, an Eastern Conference finals rematch against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday and Orlando Magic on Friday.
All the while, the Feb. 9 NBA trade deadline looms.
“We have an important week, with three important games,” Spoelstra said. “We’re not looking ahead to the whole homestand, but Sunday against New Orleans, and we have Boston and Orlando, it’s an important week for sure.”
INJURY REPORT
The Heat ruled out Nikola Jovic (lower back stress reaction), Duncan Robinson (finger surgery) and Omer Yurtseven (ankle surgery) for Sunday’s game against the Pelicans. Udonis Haslem is listed as probable because of right Achilles tendinosis.
The Pelicans will be without Brandon Ingram (toe contusion) and Zion Williamson (hamstring strain) against the Heat. Naji Marshall is doubtful because of toe soreness.
This story was originally published January 21, 2023 at 10:16 AM.
