After the Miami Heat carried a two-game winning streak into Thursday night, it ends with a frustrating loss to the Chicago Bulls, 124-116. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and players Kyle Lowry, Jaime Jaquez Jr. spoke after the game to talk about the performance and what to improve on as they face the same team Saturday.
One could argue it was the beginning of the end in the first quarter as Chicago started with a 33-8 lead over the Heat where they overwhelmed the home team with their 63.6 percent three-point shooting. Spoelstra said to the media that they didn't “start the game with a lot of juice.”
“You do have to credit them. They jumped all over us. We didn't start the game with a lot of juice. We're not going to make any excuses about it. We started off a little bit sluggish, but I loved the spirit that everybody brought in that second quarter, and we got right back into the game and there was a game in the second half and they definitely made more plays down the stretch,” Spoelstra said. “We had some defensive breakdowns that led to some open shots. But there are also some breakdowns that led to some fouls and opportunities for them to get to the free throw line that also proved to be costly.”
Spoelstra looks on the bright side of the loss
The Heat would come back in the second quarter to bring the 25-point lead down to four points at halftime. Spoelstra praises the team with their “spirit” and “competitiveness” despite the fact that the team came out with a loss.
“The Spirit, the competitiveness, the want, all that was there and the grit, that was definitely there. The guys that have logged big minutes, they were dead legged for sure. But they have a competitive spirit,” Spoelstra said. “Our guys definitely have that spirit and we just couldn't get that over the top. I would have liked to have seen that second half is for us to take the lead. Just one time. One time that's what I was saying basically in every time out just to see if that can change the dynamic.”
Lowry believes the team needs to learn from a loss like this
One of the few bright spots for the Heat Thursday was starting point guard Kyle Lowry who scored 17 points as he shot 50 percent from the field. He gave immense credit to the Bulls for coming out with “high energy” that Miami couldn't match with, possibly due to the game being at the tail-end of a back-to-back.
“They made a lot of shots, give them credit, they came out with super high energy. They were very confident in their shots, they got their spots very well. Did a great job of passing the ball, moving the ball. You know, we just didn't come out with enough energy,” Lowry said. “When a team is knocking down shots like that, it takes a little bit energy out from you. But you know, we found a way to get back into it. And I think the second quarter we really played a better tempo game. Third quarter, we played even and I mean, the first quarter was the game basically.”
Whatever the result is of the game, the Heat play the Bulls once again Saturday as they try to seek revenge. Some have the mindset of having “short-term memory” to focus on the next game ahead, but Lowry said to ClutchPoints that the team needs to learn from a loss like Thursday.
“I don't think you have a short term memory, I think you learn from it. It has to stay fresh in our brains. And that's one thing I think that we have to continue to remember,” Lowry said. “I mean we shot 46 from the field, 44 from Three, you know we we add more turnovers. In the game, they shot 93 times, we shot 80. You don't want to have short term memory, you want to learn.”
Impressive rookie gives his viewpoint on the loss
Another bright spot for the Heat was once again rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. who led the team in scoring with 22 points to go along with four rebounds and assists. Jaquez acknowledged the horrid start the team had and said it's rough when trying to come back from a 25-point hole.
“It's definitely tough. It's not the position that we wanted to start off in. But as a team, we were very happy with the way we battled back, couldn't finish it out though,” Jaquez said. “But you got to understand. It's very tough to come back when you dig yourself in that deep of a hole.”
The formula is simple for the Heat, they have to start each half of the game setting their pace and go on from there. Consequently, even Jaquez said to the media after the game that needs to be the case when Miami faces Chicago again.
“Just starting off better, starting off the first half better, starting off the second half better,” Jaquez said. “We have to put ourselves in a better position to finish out the game.”
The Heat are 14-11 on the season which puts them at eighth in the Eastern Conference. On this current four-game home-stand, Miami is 1-1 as they try to bounce back against Chicago before Monday's game against a surging team in the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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