Spoelstra and staff studying what went wrong for Heat, as East evolves: ‘Everybody is motivated’
The Eastern Conference is going to look different next season. In fact, some would say the East is wide open because a few of the conference’s recent elites like the Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks are dealing with significant injuries to key players and/or major roster changes.
But don’t tell that to Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.
“I don’t and I think that’s cool for the fan base to look at it that way,” Spoelstra said to reporters last week in Las Vegas when asked if he believes the East is wide open because so many teams usually near the top in recent years are facing big questions. “We’re not afraid of the competition. You can’t be afraid of the competition. You can’t think that just because there have been some changes in rosters or some injuries that, ‘Oh, now we have a chance.’ That’s kind of a loser’s mentality. We want to compete at the highest level regardless of who’s out there. “
So the Heat went out and tried to improve its roster this summer after being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, needing to qualify for the playoffs through the NBA’s play-in tournament in each of the last three seasons and finishing this past regular season with a losing record for the first time since the 2018-19 season and just the sixth time in Pat Riley’s 30 seasons with the organization.
The Heat’s biggest move this offseason — up to this point — is its trade for veteran guard Norman Powell, who was among six NBA players who averaged at least 21 points per game while shooting better than 48% from the field and better than 40% from three-point range last regular season.
“We know we have to improve,” Spoelstra continued. “We knew we had to do some things this offseason. We know that we have to have a really good training camp, which I think we will. Guys are going to come in prepared. We’ll have a productive August and September. Everybody is motivated. We’ve had plenty of time off. Everybody wants to just gear up and get ready.”
That time off has allowed Spoelstra to dig deeper into what went wrong last season.
For one, Spoelstra is studying the Heat’s poor 8-17 record in games decided by five points or less last regular season. That went down as the third-worst such record in the NBA.
Spoelstra is also looking into the Heat’s in-game collapses, as Miami blew a double-digit lead in a league-leading 22 losses last regular season. The Heat also wasted a fourth-quarter lead in a league-leading 21 losses last regular season.
“Those close games are something that we’ve really analyzed,” Spoelstra said while in Las Vegas for summer league action, which the Heat will wrap up Friday against the Milwaukee Bucks’ summer squad (7 p.m. ESPN+). “That can change the trajectory of your season if you handle those moments of truth better, if you have a few more wins out of those groupings of games that were very winnable with fourth-quarter leads and that kind of stuff. The whole league is trying to figure that out. But that has given us something to really dive into. And then offensively, building a system where it can be dynamic and a little bit tougher to just prepare for if you’re on the other side.”
The Heat’s hope is that more time together will help fix some of those issues after shaking up its roster midway through last season with the Jimmy Butler trade.
What followed the Butler trade was a 10-game losing skid before the Heat found its footing to win 10 of its final 14 regular-season games and then become the first 10th-place team in either conference to make the playoffs from the NBA’s play-in tournament. The Heat won back-to-back elimination play-in road games in Chicago and Atlanta to qualify for the playoffs before being swept by the East’s top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs.
“There were a lot of things obviously that happened and we pride ourselves in hitting stride and getting better as the season goes on at the right time,” Spoelstra said. “It happened very late for us. It happened in about the last 10 games. And then that led to two really competitive play-in games. Big picture, that’s not where we want to be. But it felt like we were building something in those 10 games and those two games were exhilarating. The locker room was alive after that Atlanta game and then it was a buzzkill after that. But there’s different levels to this, we understand that.”
When the Heat reconvenes for the start of training camp in late September, Spoelstra expects a rejuvenated group.
“You can feel the energy, you can feel the excitement building,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be all there right now. But look, it’s happening organically. I feel it myself, the staff feels it, the players feel it. It’s not that we wish training camp could be tomorrow, but I think there will be a nice healthy ramp up to get there and there’s still going to be great competition. That’s what it’s about. You got to embrace it and we’re looking forward to it.”
