Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Margin for error is gone
MIAMI — At their darkest hour, as the record careened to 11-30, there at least was half a season to build back toward something more palatable.
Now, 60 games in, the marathon has turned into a sprint, and even with victories in 16 of their past 19 games, the Heat recognize that any sustained slippage could doom this resurrection.
That’s what made going the final 4 minutes, 38 seconds of a 96-89 loss Monday to the Mavericks in Dallas so disappointing, and why a third loss this season to the Philadelphia 76ers as the Heat resume their schedule tonight at AmericanAirlines Arena, could prove particularly damaging.
“We understand,” guard Goran Dragic said, “that we have a small margin of error.”
It was after the Heat’s 13-game winning streak that coach Erik Spoelstra said his players earned the right to look at the standings and consider the playoff possibilities. Then came a loss Sunday by the Detroit Pistons to the Boston Celtics that moved the Heat within one game of the eighth and final playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. But the Monday loss in Dallas dropped the Heat two games in the loss column behind that final seed.
“We’re trying not to look too much into it,” guard Tyler Johnson said. “At the end of the day, it’s one game, and we have another one coming up on Wednesday. It’s definitely tough to lose, especially when you could build some momentum . ...
“I’m sure there’s going to be other teams that are ahead of us that are going to drop a game to a team that are playing for the playoffs.”
What made blowing a 5-point lead over that final 4:38 in Dallas so distressing was that it was similar to the losses that led to that 11-30 midseason morass. During the decisive sequences, the ball stopped moving, with individual players attempting to take over.
“We’ve just got to do a better job of just picking and choosing better shots, sharing the ball down the stretch,” center Hassan Whiteside said. “Our shot selection wasn’t there. We had a couple of questionable things happen the last two minutes.”
Of the Heat’s 22 shots in the fourth quarter, 13 were 3-pointers. And the Heat did not attempt a single free throw in the final period.
“We cannot lose these types of games. We need to get better,” Dragic said. “We need to get back to playing like we’re supposed to. We know that we can play better.” To listen to Spoelstra at Monday’s finish was to channel much of what Spoelstra lamented in November, December and the initial games in January.
“We’ve shown much more poise going down the stretch offensively than we did,” he said. “We didn’t execute with poise and share. I think we rushed some possessions.”
Tuesday was reserved for video, reflection and an appreciation that the Heat have put themselves in position where every game counts.
“We don’t have time to learn from these mistakes. We’ve already been through them,” Johnson said. “If we have a couple more nights playing like this against other teams that are ahead of us, then we’re going to be facing a big-time uphill battle.”