Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
From streak to skid
Heat drop second game after taking 13 in a row
MIAMI — The margin for error was razor thin even when the winning streak was being extended to 13.
Because nothing, after falling to 11-30 at midseason was going to be easy, including now, with this latest setback, trying to find a way to the playoffs in a season featuring two losses to both the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic.
Two nights after the 13-game streak was snapped in Philadelphia, the Heat saw their eightgame home winning streak come to an end with Monday night’s 116-107 loss to the Magic at AmericanAirlines Arena.
At 24-32, the Heat face the very real possibility of going into the All-Star break nine games under .500, with only Wednesday’s game against the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center remaining.
Down for most of the night, the Heat made a brief stand early in the fourth quarter, but there was ample pushback from the Magic.
Dion Waiters led the Heat with 23 points, with Goran Dragic adding 22. And while Heat center Hassan Whiteside closed with 12 points and 19 rebounds, the Heat were outrebounded 52-37.
Guard Evan Fournier paced the Magic with 24 points, with Magic center Nikola Vucevic finishing with 13 points and 17 rebounds.
A James Johnson 3-pointer with 3:05 left drew the Heat within 105-101, with a Dragic layup later pulling the Heat within 108-103 with 2:04 to play. A pair of Dragic free throws then made it 108-105 with 1:42 left, only to be countered by a Fournier layup on the other end for a 110-105 Magic lead.
Waiters responded with a jumper on the other end, only to have Fournier again counter, this time with a 3-pointer for a 113-107 Orlando lead.
The Heat took their first lead since 2-0 after Tyler Johnson converted both free throws following a Flagrant 1 foul on D.J. Augustin and James Johnson finished off the possession with a jumper for a 91-89 lead with 10:48 remaining.
The Heat then pushed to a four-point lead, before a 9-0 run put Orlando up 98-93.
With James Johnson scoring the Heat’s final nine points of the third period, the Heat went into the fourth quarter in an 87-87 tie, after the Heat backcourt of Dragic and Waiters had largely carried the Heat to that stage.
After falling behind 57-43 late in the second period, the Heat closed the first half on a 14-3 run, punctuated by a driving Dragic layup just before the halftime buzzer to move within 60-57 at the intermission.
The Heat were pummeled 31-16 on the boards in the first half, with Whiteside and Vucevic each with 12 first-half rebounds.
The Heat’s first-half scoring was backcourt driven, with Waiters with 15 points and Dragic with 14 at the intermission.
The Heat fell behind by 12 in the first quarter and went into the second period down 36-28.
The Heat got closer to whole, with Waiters back in the starting lineup after missing the previous three games with a sprained left ankle.
The Magic also found themselves fortified, with forward Aaron Gordon, who had missed the previous two games due to a bone bruise in his right foot, also in Monday’s starting lineup.
The teams had split the first two games of the fourgame season series, which concludes March 3 at the Amway Center.
Not yet
Josh Richardson participated in Monday’s shootaround, but the sidelined guard, or any of the Heat’s other sidelined players, by NBA rule, are not allowed to return until after this weekend’s All-Star break. Richardson has missed the past 18 games with a sprained left foot.
Once Richardson returns, the Heat will lose the roster exception granted by the NBA that allowed for last week’s signing of DLeague guard Marcus Georges-Hunt.
The NBA’s rule for a roster exception states a player must sit out at least two weeks once such an exception is utilized.
With the Heat forced to wait until after the All-Star break for Richardson’s return, it is possible the roster could be thinned in the interim, with the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 23 and the Heat resuming their schedule Feb. 24.