Heat falls in Portland in solid debuts for Crowder, Iguodala. Five takeaways from loss.
The Heat nearly made it to the All-Star break without a three-game losing streak.
Nearly, but not quite.
Still missing Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and Meyers Leonard, the Heat hung around throughout but ultimately succumbed to Portland, 115-109, at Moda Center on Sunday night, in the process falling to 0-3 on this road trip and spoiling the encouraging Heat debuts of Andre Iguodala and Jae Crowder.
If Miami doesn’t win Monday at Golden State, the Heat would be at grave risk of an 0-5 road trip, with a difficult assignment Wednesday in Utah heading into the break. And remember, this Heat team entered this Western trip with just one losing streak all season (a two-game skid during a lost weekend in New York last month).
The extenuating circumstance, of course, is the absences of Butler, who injured his shoulder in Wednesday’s loss to the Clippers; Herro, who hasn’t played on this road trip because of an ankle injury and Leonard, who missed a return to Portland because of his ankle injury. Erik Spoelstra on Sunday was non-committal if Butler or Herro would play on this trip.
One positive was the very strong debut of Crowder, who played 35 minutes and was active, producing 18 points, 11 rebounds and three assists and two steals.
Iguodala, who hadn’t appeared in an NBA game since June, logged 23 minutes, closing with two points, six rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block.
The Heat stayed afloat thanks largely to Crowder, Bam Adebayo (13 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, three blocks), Goran Dragic (27 points, seven assists) and Duncan Robinson (19 points).
Miami rallied from 11-point first-half deficit to take the lead in the second quarter, then unraveled early in the third and was victimized by a five-point swing on an overturned foul late in the third.
Instead of upholding a Portland foul on a Dragic attempted three-pointer in the final moments of the third, the call was overturned, with Damian Lillard instead getting - and making - two free throws on a Dragic foul on that play.
So instead of potentially trailing by five after three, the Heat instead entered the fourth behind, 93-83.
Miami closed to within 99-97 on a Dragic three with just over five minutes left, but Gary Trent followed with a three and Lillard then hit a tough shot and converted a free throw to put Portland back up eight.
And after an Adebayo basket pulled the Heat to within 111-108, Lillard drove past Crowder for a layup with 25 seconds remaining.
“We’ve got to figure out how to win on the road,” Adebayo said, with Miami now 12-15 away from home. “That’s been our biggest question mark of the season. It needs to start soon. We don’t have enough time to say we’re going to figure it out. We have to figure it out now.”
Five takeaways from the Heat’s loss:
▪ Iguodala and Crowder had some very good moments in their Heat debuts and both played the entire fourth quarter.
Crowder was the Heat’s second player off the bench, behind Dragic, and Iguodala the third. And the Heat generally played well with them on the floor; Iguodala finished at a plus 10, Crowder a plus 9, meaning Miami outscored Portland by nine with Crowder on the court.
“It felt like as if they were here for a while, not just joining us 48 hours ago,” Spoelstra said. “They are multi-dimensional two way players.”
Said Dragic: “You can see the chemistry [with those two] is good for the future.”
Iguodala blocked a Mario Hezonja shot and had a steal in the first minute of the fourth quarter. He had two assists but didn’t attempt a shot in his first 12 minutes of action before attempting - and airballing - a corner three early in the fourth. He then made his only basket, on a layup off a nifty move under the basket, and that was his second and final shot of the night.
This was Iguodala’s first NBA game since June, but as Derrick Jones Jr. and Udonis Haslem said before the game, you never would have known his practice Saturday was his first NBA practice since last June. Haslem said teammates marveled at his conditioning, achieved through boxing and pilates and vigorous workouts.
“Andre, I wasn’t planning for this,” Spoelstra said of his 22 minutes. “He played seven more minutes than I wanted him to play.”
Asked before the game if Iguodala was ready for game action after an 8-month layoff, Spoelstra said: “I don’t know if he’s ready or not, but I’m playing him. The guy is a freak. Six percent body fat. To be off that kind of time, he looks incredible. That’s not basketball shape. We get it. How do you get somebody in basketball shape? You play him in a basketball game and start that process.”
Iguodala said he hadn’t played a 5-on-5 game since last June’s NBA Finals for Golden State: “I felt really good out there, finding guys. I watched a lot of film going into today. I don’t know if I ever watched that much film before a regular season game.” He said the long layoff “helps you appreciate” playing.
Crowder shot only 29 percent on threes with Memphis this season but made five of them on Sunday, on eight attempts. Overall, he closed 6 for 11 from the field.
“Jae makes those Miami Heat tough inspiring plays,” Spoelstra said. “When he dove on the ground, that was a welcome to how we believe the game should be played.”
With Butler, Herro and Leonard all sidelined, the Heat played only four off the bench - Dragic, Crowder, Iguodala and Silva.
▪ Neither Adebayo nor Hassan Whiteside had the clear edge in a matchup of former teammates.
Adebayo opened each half defending Carmelo Anthony, with Kelly Olynyk on Whiteside. But Adebayo also got plenty of time on Whiteside and Whiteside defended Adebayo on the other end.
They know each other’s games intimately well, and Adebayo smartly went right at Whiteside on a couple of occasions, with mixed success.
Whiteside - who entered averaging 15 points and 14 rebounds - finished with 11 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks. He was briefly energized by a block of Chris Silva but then missed from close range on the other end.
Adebayo’s six assists in the first half matched Whiteside’s six in 48 games in his first season with the Heat. Adebayo blocked a Whiteside shot in the fourth quarter.
Adebayo, incidentally, was named one of 44 finalists for the 2020 U.S. Olympic team. So was Butler.
▪ Where would the Heat be without Duncan Robinson’s breakout season? Robinson hit four threes in the first quarter to keep the Heat afloat, en route to a 19-point night.
With 180 threes for the season, Robinson ranks fifth in the league in that category, behind only James Harden, Damian Lillard, Buddy Hield and Davonte’ Graham.
What’s more, Robinson 44.1 percent accuracy on threes is the best in the league for players who rank in the top 10 in made threes.
And with six threes on Sunday, he has now made multiple threes in 22 consecutive games, extending his franchise record.
The Heat finished with 20 three-pointers in 49 attempts, with Dragic hitting five.
But Robinson had difficulties defensively with Trevor Ariza, who scored 21 on 7 for 10 shooting.
▪ The Heat held Lillard below his average during this recent remarkable roll of his, but he got hot late and the Heat’s problems defending the three continued.
Lillard - who scored 33 - entered having averaged an absurd 40.9 points, 9.3 assists and 4.9 rebounds over his previous 11 games, on an equally absurd 50.4 percent accuracy on three-pointers.
But he took just eight shots in an 11-point first half before becoming more aggressive in the second half, closing 11 for 23 and 6 for 15 on threes.
Meanwhile, after giving up a franchise-record 24 threes against the Clippers and 19 in the loss to Sacramento, the Heat relinquished 19 again, with Lillard hitting six, Trent five and CJ McCollom and Carmelo Anthony three apiece.
“A lot of these were created off pick and roll triggers with Lillard and McCollom,” Spoelstra said. “This was different from what we faced the last two games. A lot of these were off the bounce. Our disposition was much better tonight. You look across the board, there were a lot of areas we won.”
▪ Kendrick Nunn’s mini-slump continues.
Nunn’s exemplary rookie season has had a couple of to-be-expected speed bumps. But this past week’s shooting slump comes at an inopportune time, with Butler and Herro out.
Nunn was 2 for 10 in the first half and 4 for 18 for the game, after shooting 5 for 17 and 6 for 19 to begin the West Coast trip.
The Heat’s starting lineup of Abebayo, Nunn, Jones, Robinson and Olynyk entered having played just 13 minutes all season and were outscored by six points in those minutes.
That quintet played at a deficit to start both halves on Sunday, with Crowder summoned after Olynyk picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter.
This story was originally published February 9, 2020 at 11:29 PM.
