Lillard free throws extend slide to 5

Thursday night offered the lesson of why the Miami Heat took the approach they did Thursday afternoon.

Because in the NBA it comes down to closers.

Soon, the Heat will be able to cast both Jimmy Butler and Victor Oladipo in that role.

In Thursday night’s 125-122 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers at American Airlines Arena, the Heat had neither, Butler out with a stomach illness and Oladipo yet to arrive after being acquired from the Houston Rockets at Thursday afternoon’s trade deadline.

That had the Blazers’ Damian Lillard going to the foul line with one second to go and closing out the scoring with three free throws, after a foul by the Heat’s Trevor Ariza.

“That’s one of those plays we’re going to disagree, no matter how many times we talk about it,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the whistle from referee Brian Forte, with the Heat unable to challenge because of a lack of a timeout.

“It is what it is. Brian saw it one way, we see it another way. I think it was a great game, [but] a buzzkill way to end it.

“I think everybody wanted to see overtime, but Lillard’s also a great player. He puts a lot of pressure on you.”

With the Trail Blazers dominating the offensive glass late, scoring 13 second-chance points in the final period, the Heat blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead to fall below .500 at 22-23.

“We’re not here for moral victories, obviously,” Heat guard Duncan Robinson said, as the Heat’s losing streak reached five. “We’ve got to win games. We’ve played in a bunch of close games, so I think we’re still learning how to win ’em.”

CJ McCollum led the Trail Blazers with 35 points, with Lillard adding 22 and Carmelo Anthony 20.

For the Heat, there were 29 points, nine rebounds and seven assists from Bam Adebayo, 29 points and eight assists from Tyler Herro and 22 points from Kendrick Nunn.

The Heat were without both Butler and Goran Dragic, who sat out due to back spasms.

Factoring in those involved in the movement earlier in the day at the NBA trade deadline, the Heat were down to nine available players, with Ariza shifted into the starting lineup.

Five Degrees of Heat from Thursday’s game:

1. Closing time: The teams went into the fourth quarter tied 91-91.

The Heat then strung together an 18-3 run to move to a 110-100 lead, with the Blazers responding with an 11-0 run to move ahead 111-110 with 3 minutes, 48 seconds to play. It went back and forth from there, with center Enes Kanter creating secondchance points for the Blazers, until an Adebayo layup tied it for the Heat at 122-122 with 10.8 seconds to play.

But that’s when Ariza was called for his foul with one second left on Lillard’s 3-point attempt, with Lillard putting it away from the line.

“He presents a lot of challenges when you’re trying to prevent him from getting a good, clean look,” Spoelstra said of Lillard.

2. Bam’s bounce: Adebayo became the fourth Heat player with at least 25 points, five assists and five blocks in a game, joining Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning.

“He did it within the context of everything we do,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo’s play. “He just found open spots.

“He did it from every region, whether it was in pick-and-roll, high-post play, in the post. He was effective in all those areas.”

Adebayo closed 8 of 11 from the field.

“And then he was tremendous defensively too,” Spoelstra said. “He was all over the place tonight, so he was doing it on both ends.”

3. Dealing with it: Herro broke out of his recent slump in a big way, including 5 of 9 on 3-pointers, as well as a four-point possession in the third period when he converted a technical free throw and then a three-point play.

“He had the ball in his hands [and was] able to make some plays,” Spoelstra said. “He started the game making the right reads, getting people involved and then found ways to be assertive and put the ball in the basket as the game went on.”

Herro said it was a relief to be out of his funk.

“It did feel really good to be able to see the ball go through, especially from 3,” he said. “I’ve been struggling for sure. I felt like I haven’t hit a shot in so long.”

4. Limited cast: With Butler and Dragic out, and with so many comings and goings on deadline day, the Heat were down to nine available players, with all nine seeing action in the first quarter.

That included upgraded roles for two-way players Gabe Vincent and Max Strus. Vincent started at point guard, with Strus playing as the Heat’s third reserve.

Vincent closed with a seasonhigh nine assists.

The Heat’s player pool was additionally limited with KZ Okpala and Udonis Haslem absent due to pandemic protocols.

“Obviously, [there’s] a lot going on, a lot of moving parts,” Herro said.

5. McQuick start: McCollum scored 21 of the Trail Blazers’ 31 first-quarter points, shooting 8 of 10, including 4 of 6 on 3-pointers, in playing all 12 minutes.

That helped push the Blazers to a 31-24 lead going into the second quarter.

The 21 points were the most by an opponent in a period this season and the fourth time in his career that McCollum has scored 20 or more in an opening period.

McCollum was up to 29 points by halftime.