Heat offense still a problem. Also, Herro doesn’t travel and a preseason game in Puerto Rico
The Miami Heat’s roster looks different after last week’s Jimmy Butler trade., but the Heat’s biggest issue is still the same.
The Heat’s offense continues to struggle to produce efficient results.
With Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell and Kyle Anderson making their Heat debuts following the trade, the Heat’s offense totaled a season-low 85 points on a season-worst 33.7 percent shooting from the field in Monday night’s 103-85 blowout home loss to the Boston Celtics. Miami also shot just 11 of 45 (24.4 percent) from three-point range.
The Heat’s two lowest-scoring games of the season have come in the past two games, as it finished with just 86 points in Friday’s road loss to the Brooklyn Nets. The Heat has also posted its two worst single-game offensive ratings of the season in the last two games.
“We’re going to have to work on it, spacing and decision--making,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, pointing to what he believes is hurting the team’s offense. “That’s actually been two consistent themes the last handful of weeks. And we’re going to continue to work on it until we get more clarity, confidence on what’s working for us.”
It’s important to note that the Heat was without its leading scorer Tyler Herro for Monday’s dismal offensive display. Herro missed his second game of the season because of a stomach illness and is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center (8 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun).
Herro’s eventual return should help, as the Heat has scored 10.5 more points per 100 possessions with him on the court this season compared to when he hasn’t played.
But Herro won’t solve all of the Heat’s offensive problems, considering he has played in 49 of the team’s first 51 games and Miami still entered Tuesday with the NBA’s 21st-ranked offensive rating.
“It’s decision-making and then spacing,” Spoelstra again emphasized. “It works hand in hand. We know that we’re at our best when we’re getting aggressive paint touches. But there’s still a decision at the end of that paint touch.”
The offensive struggles have been an ongoing theme for the Heat, which has posted the NBA’s 26th-ranked offensive rating since the start of January and the NBA’s worst offensive rating since the start of February. Without Butler for most of that stretch before he was eventually traded last week, the Heat has missed and will continue to miss Butler’s ability to generate relief points at the free-throw line and his ability to consistently create quality offense for himself and others.
“We’re going to figure it out,” Heat three-time All-Star center Bam Adebayo said after Monday’s loss to the Celtics. “It’s easier said than done. I look at the positives. We only had four turnovers. Coach has really been on us about our turnovers. And to have four against a team like that, it speaks to what we can be. Obviously, we didn’t shoot it well from three and I feel like that was the game right there. I feel like everything else was in our wheelhouse.”
This is a concerning trend for the Heat, which is on pace to finish with a bottom-10 offensive rating for the third straight season. The Heat closed the 2022-23 season with the league’s 25th-ranked offensive rating and ended last season with the 21st-ranked offensive rating.
But Adebayo is confident that Spoelstra and his coaching staff will find solutions for the Heat’s problems on offense, even as the team works to incorporate Anderson, Mitchell and Wiggins.
“We have one of the greatest coaches in the league, in history actually,” Adebayo said. “So I’m not going to worry about how quick it’s going to be. This is the first game for them [Anderson, Mitchell and Wiggins]. Obviously, they’re trying to figure out what shots to take, buy into the system. Once they do that, we’ll make a couple runs.”
On the other end of the court, the Heat entered Tuesday with the NBA’s ninth-ranked defensive rating and is on track to finish with a top-10 defensive rating for the ninth time in 10 seasons.
But the offense is again a major concern for the Heat.
“You’re consistently going to have to make decisions,” Spoelstra said of the Heat’s offensive process. “The decisions end up being a little bit clearer if your spacing is better. But that doesn’t solve everything. It still ends up being decision making when you have the ball in your hands and that’s what we’ll get better at.”
INJURY REPORT
Along with listing Herro as questionable because of a stomach illness, the Heat also listed Jaime Jaquez Jr. as questionable with his own stomach illness.
Herro and Jaquez both missed Monday’s loss to the Celtics because of their stomach ailments did not travel with the Heat to Oklahoma City on Tuesday. But there’s a chance that Herro and/or Jaquez could meet the team in Oklahoma City ahead of Wednesday’s matchup against the Thunder, which is why they are both being listed as questionable.
The Heat ruled out Josh Christopher (G League), Keshad Johnson (G League), Kevin Love (personal reasons), Dru Smith (Achilles) and Isaiah Stevens (G League) for Wednesday’s game against the Thunder.
The Thunder will be without Ousmane Dieng (soleus strain), Chet Holmgren (rest), Ajay Mitchell (right great toe surgery), Nikola Topic (left knee surgery) and Cason Wallace (right shoulder strain) against the Heat.
PRESEASON NEWS
In announcing that the team’s 15th annual Miami Heat gala on Saturday raised $1.1 million for the Miami Heat Charitable Fund, the team also revealed that it will play an exhibition game in Puerto Rico later this year ahead of the 2025-26 regular season.
It will mark the Heat’s seventh exhibition game in Puerto Rico in franchise history.
This story was originally published February 11, 2025 at 4:28 PM.
