The Miami Heat are on a very problematic three-game losing streak. Normally, such a streak wouldn't be a huge issue but the Heat have done more than just drop three consecutive games. They have blown fourth-quarter leads to teams missing their best players.
Miami's most recent disaster came at the hands of the Julius Randle-less New York Knicks. The Heat got outscored 38-15 and squandered a 17-point lead in the final period. After letting teams led by Tyrese Maxey and Jordan Poole do them in, Immanuel Quickley led New York in scoring as the draft-lottery-bound Knicks picked up the win. Although Miami was without Tyler Herro, the loss still stings tremendously.
After the loss to the Knicks, Jimmy Butler explained that the Heat's late-game collapses are not the fault of head coach Erik Spoelstra. Rather, it's on the players to figure it out.
Jimmy Butler notes the late-game issues, saying it is indeed fixable:
"There's nothing Spo can draw up to fix any of that. That's on us as players."
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) March 26, 2022
Even without Herro, Miami has plenty of options to turn to. Butler, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry and Duncan Robinson provide plenty of options to work with. Max Strus, Caleb Martin and Markieff Morris provide scoring off the bench. Letting a team as inferior as the Knicks clown them at home is a horrific display of ineptitude.
The Heat's failures in the fourth quarter are an issue that has to be solved before the playoffs. They're only a game ahead of the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. They are not as unbeatable as their top-seed status shows that they are. There is time to get themselves right but they have to act quickly.
Follow Us
Subscribe