Heat continue to stumble
Loss to Hawks comes despite rallying from a 19-point deficit.
MIAMI — The Atlanta Hawks entered 1-9 on the road, on a seven-game road losing streak. In other words, if not this night for the Miami Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena, then when?
When, indeed.
Make it six consecutive home losses for the Heat, this one a 115-113 setback that came despite rallying from a 19-point deficit to a fourth-quarter lead.
Ultimately, though, it is somehow beginning to feel like a season on life support in November, with the Heat coming up short when Josh Richardson was off on an open 3-point attempt with onetenth of a second to play.
At 7-13, the Heat opened a four-game homestand with arguably their worst loss of the season, unless you want to count the loss in Atlanta earlier this month.
Even with 22 points from Richardson, five 3-pointers from Wayne Ellington and a double-double from Hassan Whiteside, the Heat found a way to come up empty against an opponent that committed 24 turnovers.
A Richardson putback with 25.9 seconds to play got the Heat within 114-113. The Heat then put Hawks forward Taurean Prince at the line with 14.4 seconds to play. After making his previous two attempts, Prince this time only made the second, with the Heat calling their final timeout, down two.
Richardson’s miss followed, as did another home loss, still winless in Vice Nights colors.
Five degrees of Heat from Tuesday’s
game:
1. MVP in absentia: Goran Dragic is the Heat’s best player.
And for all the talk about the Heat being positionless, when you are without your lone true point guard you often turn rudderless, no matter the ballhandling skills of Justise Winslow, Dwyane Wade, James Johnson or Richardson.
It is now five straight games the Heat have played with Dragic sidelined with a swollen right knee. The Heat have lost four of them.
Erik Spoelstra, as a coach needs to do, downplayed the absence going in.
“I mean it definitely helps when you have Justise, Dwyane, JJ, J-Rich, multiple guys that can initiate offense,” he said. “It was a little trickier when we had those guys out and Goran was out. In that regard we feel we’re very positionless.”
More like point-less, when considering the Heat have gone all season without a true backup point guard.
So when the reserves took over . . . the Heat scored 14 points in Tuesday’s second quarter.
2. Turnover turnaround: Sunday there was a franchise record in playing the first half in Toronto without a turnover. The Heat closed that loss with seven.
The familiar pattern, however, was back Tuesday with 12 in the first half producing a 68-52 deficit at the intermission. Eventually the Heat reached 20.
“Our offense, it can’t operate the way we need it to if we’re turning the ball over,” Spoelstra said.
Against the league-leading Raptors, the Heat were dialed in from the start. Against the Hawks, the Heat let their guard down -something they are in no way good enough to do.
3. Empty numbers: Yes, there was another doubledouble for Whiteside, with 11 points and 10 rebounds, but those numbers continue to ring hollow when not accompanied by the requisite energy.
This time, Kelly Olynyk was the big man selected to play as closer, a role that otherwise might have gone to Bam Adebayo, if not for foul trouble.
For Whiteside, the problem remains that dynamic performances such as his 20-20 last week against the Brooklyn Nets tend to be followed by listlessness.
From game to game, you don’t seem to know what you’re going to get.
And now there is another concern, with Whiteside closing 1 of 7 from the line, having entered at .539. The hack could be back.
4. Wayne’s worthy: It’s starting to get interesting with Ellington, as much for what he could become as for what he is doing at the moment for the Heat.
With every 3-pointer drained, he becomes that much more coveted by a contender.
There are, however, a
pair of factors in play. First, he cannot be dealt until Dec. 15, after signing as a free agent in the offseason. And then, he has the right to refuse any trade, because of his Bird Rights status on a one-year contract.
But this no longer would be a case of a salary dump to get under the tax, but rather a potential way to add a tangible asset in such a trade, possibly a quality draft pick.
Eventually, with Dion Waiters back, the Heat will find themselves with a minutes crunch in the backcourt. Ellington’s re-emergence could, in a positive way, help alleviate that -with benefits.
5. Waiting on JJ: James
Johnson is showing signs of his unique versatility, now a week into his comeback from May surgery for a sports hernia. He also is showing rust.
With Dragic out, Johnson served as the facilitator with the first unit and was part of the effort that helped produce a 38-point opening period. But a lack of rhythm often has the Heat uneven for extended stretches during his minutes.
“He hasn’t played an NBA game since the end of April,” Spoelstra said of this comeback. “So there’s always going to be an adjustment, and that’s why we’ll try to start with some controlled minutes and build from there.”