Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Heat can’t get offense going
Low-scoring 3rd quarter undermines Miami, helps Magic earn victory
Low-scoring 3rd quarter helps Magic earn victory.
MIAMI — The Miami Heat next will send their search party west.
In search of points.
That’s because Tuesday night a seemingly pointless season resumed its search for direction, this time in a 105-90 loss to the Orlando Magic at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Seeking its first three-game winning streak of the season, Erik Spoelstra’s team instead was served another reminder of just how futile the offensive end of the court has been this season.
This time there was a 12-point third quarter.
This time three starters scored in single digits.
This time the attack mode was so limited that the Heat attempted only five free throws.
You simply are not going to win many NBA games in these high(-scoring) times when your leading scorer (Justise Winslow) scores 14 and your secondleading scorer (Kelly Olynyk) closes with 13.
Not when Aaron Gordon is scoring 20 for the Magic, Nikola Vucevic 19 and Terrence Ross 19.
So make it two losses to the Magic, just as there have been two to the Atlanta Hawks and two to the Charlotte Hornets. When the Southeast Division seems to represent the ultimate challenge, it doesn’t bode well for a team’s prospects.
And up next, starting Friday against
the Phoenix Suns, is a sixgame western swing.
Going in, Heat guard Josh Richardson said. “I think momentum’s a big thing in this league.”
To this point, the Heat wouldn’t know.
Five degrees of Heat from Tuesday’s game:
1. Offensively challenged:
It is one thing to prefer the grind game, it is another to succeed in it without halfcourt scoring options.
This time Richardson opened 0-for-8 and Dwyane Wade 1 of 6.
That was all well and good until Gordon, 1 of 8 in the first half, began to regain his stride in the third quarter — and just kept on going.
The result was the Magic turning what had been an eight-point deficit into a 76-62 lead going into the fourth quarter. Thanks to their meager 12-point output, the Heat were outscored by 18 over the 12 minutes.
2. Kelly O: Spoelstra then went in the fourth quarter with an all-reserve lineup of Bam Adebayo, Olynyk, Winslow, Tyler Johnson and Wade.
Olynyk, who had stood 0-for-4 on 3-pointers then drained three in a row to help the Heat close within 81-75.
Going into the game, Richardson noted. “The good thing about having the bench like we have is that they can get you back in the game or they can keep you up in the game.”
Adebayo’s boost was pronounced, arguably the most energetic Heat player throughout.
What the Heat needed, though, was energy and scoring.
3. Getting closer: The Heat not only had Johnson and Derrick Jones Jr. back from their injury absences, but Dion Waiters this time watched from the bench, perhaps a sign of something to follow. He has yet to play since undergoing January ankle surgery.
Johnson had missed the previous six games with a strained right hamstring, while Jones had missed the previous two with a hamstring strain of his own.
In addition, Rodney McGruder, who had been questionable due to the ankle sprain sustained in Sunday’s victory over the Utah Jazz, was back and again in the starting lineup.
Meanwhile, Goran Dragic missed his eighth consecutive game with a swollen right knee.
4. No lob stars: For as much as the play can provide a change of pace, and for as much as Hassan Whiteside and Adebayo have shown the ability to corral such passes, alleyoop lobs are starting to become problematic for the Heat in their frequency and inaccuracy.
McGruder has reached the point where just about every drive is either a floater or a lob, and he is often left to rely on the former when the latter isn’t there.
5. Red flag: Red it was again, with the Heat ditching the black neon “Vice Nights” uniforms for a third consecutive game.
The Heat had gone 0-6 in Vice Nights. They entered on a two-game winning streak in red. The court remained in Vice Nights motif, as did the opening player introductions.
Vice Nights already had been put aside for the upcoming six-game trip that opens Friday in Phoenix, with the Heat’s only scheduled road game in the uniforms to come in April in Toronto.