The Miami Heat basketball season after an eye-catching 14 games is not what I imagined it to be. It can extend to the entire National basketball association.
The Heat opened the season with a loss to the Orlando Magic. In the losing effort center, Hassan Whiteside had 26 points and 22 rebounds. All of sudden he was shut down for five games because of a bruised knee.
Heat opened their longest homestand of the season and flaws were evident from a team that returned the usual faces. Miami lost 3 in a row in the middle of the homestand one particularly to the Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime, Miami was cold from 3-point range again, shooting 7 for 27 from beyond the arc.
The team held a meeting before practice leading up to the Timberwolves game an early Sunday discussing what has gone wrong with a 2-3 start. The fact that they were doing this five games in the season was a valuable form of action. The team is not perfect however aiming to wrinkle flaws early is valuable. They came up short in overtime, however, traveled on a six-game road trip with a 3-4 record.
West they traveled.
The road trip was strange.
Heat lost by one to the Denver Nuggets, but Dion Waiters nearly won it for Miami on the other end with a 3-point try that rattled in and out in the final second. Waiters briefly lost control of the ball on the last possession and blamed the ending on “slippery” basketballs.
Miami faced the Los Angeles Clippers next where they nearly blew a 25-point lead. The Heat was outscored 35-15 in the fourth quarter. The Golden State Warriors were the next stop.
Yes, the Heat lost to fall to 4-6 overall, Heat center Hassan Whiteside only played one minute and 13 seconds in the second half, he was benched by coach Erik Spoelstra for a defensive failure and for arguing with officials over an offensive foul call.
Heat went on to win convincingly back to back at Phoenix and Utah but fell short on their final stop visiting the Detroit Pistons. Miami’s first four made shots to open the game were 3-pointers, giving the Heat a 12-7 lead, Miami started 4 of 7 from 3-point range and finished the first quarter 7 of 16 from beyond the arc and 11 of 22 overall from the field. Eventually, the wheels fell off the train the Heat finished 13-37 from 3-point land.
Heat went 3-3 after the six-game road trip.
Miami hosted the Washington Wizards for their first home since returning from the trip.
John Wall scored 27 points, Bradley Beal added 26 furthermore the Wizards overcame a dreadful third quarter to beat Miami 102-93. Wizards ended the game on a 29-13.
Heat was down 13 then climbed back. Miami led by seven early in the fourth but lost in large part because of 17 turnovers that led to 26 Washington points.
“That is one of the most damaging things in our losses all season. Our inability to take care of the basketball” Coach Spoelstra stated.
Forward Okaro White will have surgery to repair a fractured left foot. White was injured during practice. He’s averaging 3.3 points in 13 minutes per game this season. No timetable has been set for his return, but White said he’ll need at least 4-6 weeks before he can even put weight on foot after surgery.
All six of the Heat wins have come against teams under .500.
The teams meet again in Washington on Friday night.
