Heat fall to 6-15 in games decided by single digits.
The Heat have been in 21 games decided by single digits. Only the Celtics (23) have played more. Miami is 6-15 in those games.
That experience, which includes Friday’s 91-87 loss in New Orleans, can only benefifit this team in the long run.
“We’ve been in so many of these games,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Our guys really care. That’s the thing I love about this group. It really matters to them and it’s disappointing when we’re not able to get the result we’ve wanted.”
T h e p a s t t w o g a m e s showed how those results can change from game to game.
On Thursday, the Heat trailed the Lakers by 10 in the third quarter before outscoring L.A. 33-27 in the fifinal quarter and rallying for a 115-107 win.
The next night the Heat s u r r e n d e r e d a 1 4 - p o i n t third-quarter lead to the Pelicans, who outscored Miami 27-19 in the fifinal 12 minutes.
“Sometimes you just have to go through it,” Spoelstra said following Friday’s loss. “Sometimes you have to go through the pain, you have to go through the emotion, you have to go through the pressure. All of those things. We’re going through it.
“It seems like we’ve had more close games than anybody in the league. Eventually you get better from that. That wasn’t the case tonight.”
Heat center Hassan Whiteside, who was outplayed by his New Orleans counterpart Anthony Davis, believes the team can learn from everything it is experiencing this season.
“It’s hard,” said Whiteside, who had 10 points and 18 rebounds while Davis dominated with 28 points and 22 rebounds.
“But i t helps build the team, guys getting used to those close situations.”
Goran Dragic led Miami with 23 points.
Miami (10-21) has a threeday holiday break before hosting Oklahoma City on Tuesday. The Heat then play eight of their next nine games on the road.
D r a g i c d e n i e s t r a d e rumor: Dragic does not want the Heat to trade him.
Just hours after Chris Manni x of The Ver t i c a l i ndi - cated that Dragic “is open to a trade,” the Heat point guard strongly denied the report.
“I t o t a l l y d e ny t h a t , ” Dragic said after Thursday’s win over the Lakers. “That’s not true.”
A source close to the situation said Dragic enjoys being a part of the Heat organization and does not want to be traded right now.
Dragic has been the subject of trade rumors for months because he is a productive player with three seasons remaining on a salary-cap friendly contract, and many around the league believe that at some point Heat President Pat Riley will look to jump-start his rebuilding by trading his 30-year-old point guard.