Respectable effort simply results in yet another consolation prize
Good job, good effort hardly was the goal for the Miami Heat this season, coming off a trip to the NBA Finals.
But that’s largely become the consolation prize.
Again shorthanded, the Heat again put up a quality effort against the Brooklyn Nets, particularly on the defensive end, on Monday night before falling 98-85 at Barclays Center.
Just as they put up a quality shorthanded effort in Saturday night’s road loss to the Nets.
Just as they did two weeks ago in an overtime road loss to the Philadelphia 76ers when they had the NBA-minimum eight available players.
“I’m seeing some progress,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s the discipline right now: focus on our team, the process, and not the result.
“Everybody is disappointed about the overall record, but you see improvement.”
In falling to 6-10, the Heat served up stout defense against Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving for three quarters, limiting Brooklyn to 15 first-quarter points and 41 in the first half.
But with their own offense uneven, especially amid 3-point struggles, the Heat got 26 points and 10 rebounds from Bam Adebayo, 21 points from Goran Dragic and precious little else, with Kendrick Nunn (11 points) the only other player scoring more than seven points.
“Offensively, what’s crazy is I thought it was one of our better-execution, thoughtful games,” Spoelstra said. “We just couldn’t get the ball to go in. Maybe that had something to do with [playing] three [games] in four nights.”
For the Nets, there were 20 points from Durant, 20 from Harden and 16 from Irving.
The Heat again were without Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and Avery Bradley, among others.
“I told the team, like they’re a bunch of Navy SEALs,” Spoelstra said, “You just drop them in the city, regardless of what the circumstances, our guys will go out there and do a job. But the most important thing is I’m seeing our team get better.”
Five Degrees of Heat from Monday’s game:
1. Closing time: A 3-pointer by Harden with 4 minutes, 59 seconds to play put the Nets up 84-80, their largest lead to that stage.
A pair of Heat turnovers followed, as did baskets by Harden and Irving, for an 88-80 Brooklyn lead, leading to the second Heat timeout in 66 seconds.
Harden followed that break with a 3-pointer with 3:14 left, giving the Nets a 91-80 lead, effectively ending it.
Eventually it turned into a decisive 17-3 Nets run, with the Heat outscored 28-14 in the fourth quarter.
“It was probably their talent just took over at the end,” Spoelstra said.
2. Still rolling: With Butler still out, Adebayo again played as a featured scorer.
He was up to 12 shots and 15 points by halftime, at a time no other player in the game was in double figures.
He then banked in a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer to give the Heat a 71-70 lead going into the fourth, his second 3-pointer of the season.
Adebayo was coming off Saturday’s career-high 41-point performance against the Nets.
“We’re just down bodies right now, [but] that’s no excuse,” he said. “We’re at the bottom of the East right now. It don’t look right being down there.”
In the third quarter, Adebayo’s fourth assist of the night pushed him past Rory Sparrow for 18th place on the Heat’s all-time list.
“This road trip, we utilized his skill set every which way possible you could imagine, and that’s on both ends of the court,” Spoelstra said of the 1-3 run in the pairs of games against the Nets and Toronto Raptors.
3. The long shot: At one point in the third period, Dragic was 6 of 7 on 3-pointers, with the rest of the Heat 2 of 20.
Spoelstra tried to buy time without Dragic at the start of the fourth quarter, but the Heat struggled in his absence.
“He’s playing a few more minutes than we would typically play him right now,” Spoelstra said. “But he can handle it. He’s in great shape. He’s a competitor.” Dragic closed 6 of 9 on 3-pointers, the rest of the Heat 5 of 34 on the Heat’s .256 night from beyond the arc.
“It’s not the start we wanted,” Dragic said, “but I’m still confident we can bounce back.
“Hopefully now the situation is going to calm down.”
Kelly Olynyk closed 0-for-5 on 3-pointers, Duncan Robinson 1 of 10 and Nunn 1 of 8.
4. Okpala’s chance: With Moe Harkless out with the thigh injury sustained in the first half of Saturday’s loss, KZ Okpala pushed through knee pain to take a spot in the opening lineup.
It was the third start for Okpala, with the Heat opening with the same lineup that produced last Monday’s home victory over the Detroit Pistons: Okpala, Adebayo, Dragic, Olynyk and Robinson.
Okpala opened defensively on Harden.
“I’ve seen great progress in him,” Spoelstra said. “So clearly that’s a bright spot.”
5. Drought over: When Robinson converted a 3-pointer 14 seconds into the game to open the scoring, it was the Heat’s first lead in three games.
The Heat never led Saturday in Brooklyn, nor during Friday’s loss to the Raptors in Tampa.
The previous time the Heat led in a game was last Wednesday, at the conclusion of the 111-102 victory over the Raptors.
The Heat opened Monday on an 8-0 run.