Sunday night should have been an opportunity for the Miami Heat to erase the taste of their recent back-to-back losses, gain ground in the playoff race and provoke some vintage Jimmy Butler postgame locker room content. You know, the fruits of facing the Washington Wizards: a lottery-related laughing stock that just ended a 16-game losing streak last Friday. This victory was the 11th of their disastrous campaign.
None of this happened.
Instead, the heat fell 110-108 and rose from sixth to eighth place in the East. Butler was solemn as he spoke to reporters. “This game is just a lesson in humility,” he said a few minutes after missing a game-winning three at the buzzer.
Now mired in a three-game losing streak, the Heat should use Sunday’s demoralizing loss to the Wizards as a wake-up call. Their NBA title hopes could depend on how they answer.
“We didn’t handle our business in those three games,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Taking care of business immediately is essential, because history has shown that there is an almost direct correlation between a good March and June and a better chance of hoisting the Larry O’Brien championship trophy.
Outside of the dynasty-era Golden State Warriors, every 21st century champion finished March with a record of .500 or better and 21 of 24 had a winning percentage of .600 or better. During Miami’s title runs in 2006, 2012 and 2013, the combined winning percentage in March was .800.
However, these Heat are 2-3 this month. This record could continue to stay below .500 if future efforts mirror Sunday’s. The competition is just too good. Their next game will be against the defending champion Denver Nuggets, and later this month they will face playoff contenders like the Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, New Orleans Pelicans, Cleveland Cavaliers and Warriors.
If the Heat slump during this time and fall below .500 in March — or worse — there’s a good chance they won’t be able to avenge last year’s loss in the NBA Finals. The fact that Miami has lost four of its last six games suggests the results could be mediocre.
Of course, three of those six losses came on the road against Western Conference playoff hopefuls – Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder – and all three were close. But teams unable to close against the NBA elite in the spring, they don’t usually end their season passing around cigars and Dom Pérignon.
Even the Heat’s two victories are not very encouraging. Earlier this month, they got past the No. 11 seed Utah Jazz and needed a 37-point masterpiece by “Jimmy from the playoffs» to escape the Detroit Pistons: the only team worse than the one the Heat fell against on Sunday.
There was unease before Sunday’s game against the Wizards. That unease only intensified after another listless fourth quarter.
After failing to push back the Wizards, the Heat finally found themselves down eight with less than two minutes remaining. The fact that Miami managed a two-point game speaks more to Washington’s misfortune than to its determination.
For example, in those final two minutes, Washington’s Kyle Kuzma made three jaw-dropping plays: a trip, a rattling floater right after grabbing an offensive rebound, and an offensive foul after hitting the Heat’s Terry Rozier in the face during a drive to the edge. .
At one point, when down four with 45 seconds remaining, the Heat grabbed four offensive rebounds on the same possession before Miami’s Caleb Martin miraculously knocked the ball in. The fact is the Wizards were wizards and the Heat still couldn’t win. It’s not good.
And two of the misses in that aforementioned rebounding streak came from Duncan Robinson, who shot 4 of 13 from the perimeter (1 of 6 in the first half), committed five turnovers and had a Heat-low plus-minus . minus-11. Robinson also missed a potential game-winning three-pointer with five seconds remaining. Starting Sunday, he had scored just nine fourth-quarter points in the Heat’s previous five games.
This is especially important because this is where Spoelstra begins to understand his rotations better. Earlier this week, Norris Cole, a two-time NBA champion with the Heat, went viral after sharing Miami’s playoff preparation process on the “Gilbert Arenas Show.”
“The rotation got shorter at times as we got closer to the playoffs. So now you have to leave your mark on the team. So like, “Can the coach trust you? Are you going to be in the top eight or top nine of the rotation? “” Cole mused, “‘Or aren’t you?’ »
With fellow three-point shooter Tyler Herro out injured, Robinson could have shown he deserved a spot in the starting lineup in April. But today, Spoelstra wonders where to go.
“There is a certain intensity when [you’re] playing for marbles,” Cole said. “And it’s like when you win, it’s good and when you lose, it’s the failure of a season. For us in Miami, that’s what it was. If we won – great – if you lost – ‘You suck, you were the worst ever.’
Robinson is aware of this pressure. He played a role in the Heat’s two recent Finals appearances and five straight playoff runs. But even a veteran like him isn’t immune to needing a wake-up call late in the season. Especially right now.
The same goes for Bam Adebayo, who averages 11.7 points on 35% shooting over the last three games. Or Jimmy Butler, whose 23 points were edged out by Kuzma’s 32 and almost by Corey Kispert’s 22.
“This is also why we love this profession. All the context and pressure at this time of year,” Spoelstra said after falling to the lowest-rated defensive team in the NBA.
The context in the Heat’s case cannot be ignored. Perhaps these fourth quarter struggles are the result of a busy travel schedule?
“I think we had five (games) in seven (nights) or something like that and a crazy travel day and a late arrival. That’s not an excuse. That’s not at all why we lost. Washington made the right plays down the stretch,” Spoelstra said. “But we can rest a little bit and get ready for practice on Tuesday and get ready for a big game on Wednesday.”
Calling Wednesday’s game against the Nuggets a “big game” might be an understatement. After three straight losses stunted Miami’s playoff progress, this is an opportunity to make a statement and get back to looking like a true contender.
“This game is just humbling,” Butler said. “If you don’t have the right mindset, this is what will happen and will continue to happen.”
