Heat’s vice: Subpar play in home games
MIAMI — Now comes the hard part that should be the easy part.
With the Miami Heat at 3-7 at AmericanAirlines Arena, only the Utah Jazz have fewer home victories, with the Charlotte Hornets with twice as many.
This was supposed to be the portion of the schedule when the Heat strengthened their case for a quality playoff seed. Instead, the home-based start to the season has left Erik Spoelstra’s team reeling. The Heat enter Tuesday night’s game against the Atlanta Hawks on a five-game home losing streak.
“We want to come in and establish ourselves at home, playing Atlanta on Tuesday,” said guard Dwyane Wade, who had missed the first four games of the five-game home losing streak while on paternity leave. “We’ve just got to figure out a way to get wins. Whichever way they come, this is a time right now where we look at the games. We have four at home and we’ve got to take care of business.
“We’ve got to go out and just got to play better, got to play better consistently for a longer period of time.”
Because of the struggles at home, the 7-12 Heat are assured of a losing record heading into a six-game western swing that starts after this impending fourgame homestand.
“We let some games slip away. I feel like on the road we take advantage of those games,” guard Rodney McGruder said, with the Heat 4-5 on the road. “On the road, we make the plays we need to make. At home, we miss some of those plays we make on the road.”
To this stage, the Heat’s “Vice Nights” uniforms and matching court hardly have proven inspirational, with the Heat 0-5 in the motif.
“There’s nothing to that at all. I don’t believe in anything like that. That’s like a superstition. You can’t let that affect us,” McGruder said, with the Heat scheduled for those City Edition jerseys throughout the impending homestand.
“If you want to be successful in this league, you’ve got to win those home games.”
Jersey exchange: After presenting a jersey to Chicago Bears defensive standout Khalil Mack after Friday’s homecoming victory at the United Center, Wade exchanged jerseys following Sunday’s loss with Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry.
“It was awesome,” Lowry said. “He’s a Hall of Famer, future Hall of Famer, rather, one of the greatest competitors out there. Champion. So, it was honor for me to still be able to play against him for one last season.
“It will go up in my house, and I’ll have an opportunity to have a couple of stories I can tell to my kids a long time from now.”
Wade’s “One Last Dance” farewell tour had him matched up Sunday against Delon Wright, the brother of former Wade Heat teammate Dorell Wright. At 26, Wright is 10 years younger than Wade.
“It kind of brings the competitiveness out in you when someone is coming at you,” Wright said after Wade closed with 35 points.
Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard also cited the significance of playing Wade, having lost the Big Three Heat with Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh in the 2013 NBA Finals while with the San Antonio Spurs, then having won the 2014 Finals against that trio.
“That’s when I feel I became the player I am today, going through those early playoff runs at a young age,” Leonard said. “Just playing that Miami Heat team with him, LeBron and Chris Bosh is one of the greatest teams I’ve ever played.”
Bam boost: Wade said he views the past two games as a step forward for backup center Bam Adebayo, who closed with a career-high 21 rebounds and 16 points in Toronto after recording his first doubledouble of the season two nights earlier in Chicago, with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
“He’s just being aggressive. He’s picking his spots,” Wade said. “I think he understands how defenses are playing the guards, and he’s able to get the ball in that pocket, he’s able to get mismatches.
“He’s offensive rebounding and he’s being aggressive. So he just looks more comfortable and we need that out of him. We need that when he gets the ball, to be aggressive to make plays or score himself.” Adebayo said he senses growing trust.
“My teammates want me to be aggressive offensively and defensively,” he said. “And I’m doing that for them. We don’t want to play four-on-five basketball, so they want me to be aggressive. They want me to crash the glass and they want me to defend.”