Road to redemption or ruin?
Upcoming 7-game trip could define season for recently resurgent Heat
Road to ruin? Or road to redemption?
The next two weeks arguably could define the Miami Heat’s season, a schedule segment as much about survival as the sustained recent success.
Departing with the baggage of a 10-14 record but also a three-game winning streak, the Heat will not return to South Florida until Feb. 23. In the interim will be an excursion that will match the longest trip in the franchise’s 33 seasons, the seven games being its longest since a seven-game trip in 2009.
“We’re really going to see what we’re made of,” forward Jimmy Butler said. “We’re really going to see how tough we are, how resilient we are, and when things aren’t going our way how we’re going to handle it.”
It opens Thursday night against the Houston Rockets and continues with games against the Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Not a lot of soft spots there. And not much in the way of exhales, with pandemic protocols limiting life over these next two weeks to hotel, arena and airport.
Wash, rinse and repeat — times seven.
“It’s the longest road trip that I’ve ever been on,” center Kelly Olynyk said, “and I’ve played eight years in the league now. It’s a different scheduling.”
As everything has been this season.
“I think for this basketball team, where we are right now, it is a good thing for us to go on the road and be together,” coach Erik Spoelstra said.
If nothing else, Spoelstra knows his players will get their rest.
“You get on a plane, you land, you take a bus, go to your hotel, order room service and that’s it,” he said. “It’s a little bit different than our NBA experience in a typical year. But that’s just the deal, and we’re grateful that we have an opportunity to continue to play.”
There won’t be much more to do. In a way, with coaches being coaches, some see that as a possible net gain.
“When teams would go to certain cities, there are always pitfalls, night life, whatever you want to call it,” Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone said before a recent game against the Heat. “And now with the protocols being what they are, kind of like when we were in the bubble, you go to a city, you go to a hotel [and] you have to stay in that hotel.
“You’re not going to a restaurant. You’re not going out to a club. You’re in your room. And you should be ready to play at a high level the following night in that particular city that you’re in.”
Even at arenas, if there is to be distraction, it will come in the form of piped-in jeers, with most teams continuing to play either in the absence of fans or with limited attendance.
“I think the no-fans [situation] is the biggest part of it,” Malone said of unusual road success and lopsided road wins around the league this season. “And obviously the protocols [are] playing into that as well.”
So what is ahead for the Heat? Four nationally televised games and an ultimate challenge to get back to .500 by the midpoint of the season, which comes five games after the trip concludes.
“We’re going to figure it out,” Butler said. “We’re going to figure out a way to win some of these games on the road. I want to win all of ’em, to tell you the truth. I think we’re capable of it.”
The Heat are 7-7 at home this season but just 3-7 on the road.
A look at the Heat’s upcoming seven-game road trip:
Houston Rockets, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, TNT: It has been an uneven ride for the Rockets in the wake of trading Russell Westbrook and James Harden. But Houston is 6-2 in the last seven games played by John Wall.
There also are the challenges of Victor Oladipo (if healthy), DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Gordon.
Utah Jazz, 9 p.m. Saturday: The Jazz have vaulted to the top of the standings by loading up with outside shooting around Rudy Gobert, who will present his own challenges for the Heat’s frontcourt.
The saving grace could be getting Utah on the second night of a back-to-back after the Jazz play Friday in a nationally televised game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Los Angeles Clippers, 10 p.m. Feb. 15, NBA TV: The Heat got the Clippers without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George at AmericanAirlines Arena on Jan. 28 and still lost 109-105.
This will, however, be the second night of a back-to-back for the Clippers, so perhaps there is a chance of at least one of the leading men sitting.
Golden State Warriors, 10 p.m.
Feb. 17, ESPN: Stephen Curry is back to being Stephen Curry, leading the NBA in total points and 3-pointers.
While Klay Thompson again is out, there remains the all-around game of Draymond Green to decipher.
Sacramento Kings, 10 p.m. Feb. 18: This is the lone back-to-back set of the trip for the Heat, who are 1-1 on the second nights of such pairings.
The Heat defeated the Kings 105-104 on Feb. 18 at AmericanAirlines Arena, with that one of only two Kings losses over their past nine games.
Los Angeles Lakers, 8:30 p.m. Feb. 20., ABC: This will be the teams’ first matchup since the Heat fell 4-2 to LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers in the 2020 NBA Finals in the Disney World quarantine bubble.
The Lakers then went ahead and bolstered in the offseason with the additions of Montrezl Harrell, Dennis Schroder and Marc Gasol.
Oklahoma City Thunder, 8 p.m., Feb. 22: The Heat won the first game of the two-game season series 118-90 on Jan. 6 at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The Heat will be catching Oklahoma City on the second night of a back-to-back set, with the Thunder coming off a game the previous night in Cleveland.