Heat look to fix mistakes before Pistons’ arrival
MIAMI — Friday was a rough day at the movies for Goran Dragic.
“You’re asking yourself, ‘Is this even possible?’ ” he said.
No, the Miami Heat’s All-Star guard wasn’t talking about “Boo 2! A Madea Halloween” or “Gigli,” but rather the screening of Thursday’s 131-113 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, which was gruesome enough to be part of the “Saw” franchise.
“Sometimes you don’t have it,” Dragic continued, “but at the end of the day you need to look yourself in the eye and accept the consequences. You didn’t play well, so you try to correct those things so they don’t happen the next game.”
That created a subtle balance for coach Erik Spoelstra, because as disheartening as Thursday’s loss was, Saturday’s matchup against the Detroit Pistons at AmericanAirlines Arena, the fourth game on this five-game homestand, is far more significant in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
“Basically it counts as two,” Dragic said, with the Heat down 2-1 in the fourgame season series. “So, what happened [Thursday] night, it’s already over, so we just need to get ready for the next one.”
While Detroit will be dealing with the physical fatigue of coming off Friday’s game in Orlando, Spoelstra was careful to make sure the Heat wouldn’t be carrying forward the mental fatigue of Thursday’s humiliation.
“We got in there, got a sweat, drilled a couple of things from last night,” he said. “We didn’t just want to let it go. That’s not our style. So even if was just 15, 20 minutes, to develop those habits of defending the way we’re capable of.
“We came in and got some work done and then we watched the film. We watched the horror show. It’s not easy to defend in this league. And what we’re trying to with our team is not easy, it’s not supposed to be easy. But we don’t want to make that a habit, of having those kind of defensive games. And seeing it on film was important, to see how far off we were and how much more we needed to bring, not only from effort, energy, disposition standpoints, but also from a focus-to-detail standpoint.”
Guard Dwyane Wade said it is such moments when Spoelstra is at his best.
“That’s what coaches get paid for,” he said. “It’s not easy when everything is going right. That’s when coaches feel alive. They’re at their best when it’s time to come in and teach.
“The thing about an NBA season is when you’ve got some younger guys as well you depend on as well as veteran guys, you always have to continue to teach if you’re trying to develop a team like we’re trying to do. He understands that. It’s frustrating when you lose that way. But we all understand it. You learn from it, move on and try to be better the next time you get on the floor.”
Dragic said plenty to cover.
“Basically everything,” he said of the Lakers’ domination. “They’re probably one of the best teams in making that outlet pass. They play fast. Our communication, there was especially in transition defense, was not good. They scored a lot of transition points and they were making some tough shots, too. So basically we were not on the same page.”
The Heat have particularly struggled in defending the pick-and-roll in recent games, particularly against the New Orleans Pelicans, Philadelphia 76ers and now Lakers. The challenge will be back Saturday against Andre Drummond, Blake Griffin and the Pistons.
“We’re a top-five pickand-roll defensive team in the league, but all across the board [Thursday] night we were poor — transition, containing the ball in the post, pick and roll, catch and shoot, one on one,” Spoelstra said.
“I could go on and on on the list where we were bad. We’re much better than that. And I anticipate we’ll be much better [Saturday] night.”
iwinderman@sunsentinel.com, Twitter @iraheatbeat, facebook.com/ ira.winderman