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After the Heat collapsed to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, the very next day saw the team lose to a depleted Dallas Mavericks team in the second game of a back-to-back, 118-113. As the organization looks for some semblance after the Heat traded away Jimmy Butler, they reach a much-needed stoppage at the All-Star break to collect their thoughts.
With the loss in Dallas on Thursday night, it marks the team's fourth straight loss which the skid has featured many disappointing outings, but the last two have consisted of Miami holding leads, but being unable to sustain them. Heat's All-Star Tyler Herro spoke about the multiple hurdles facing the team at the moment and the areas they need to hone in on once the break ends according to The Miami Herald.
“It’s a weird part of the season right now,” Herro said. “We just made a trade, some guys that we lean on are dealing with illness. You really can’t control that. I think our disposition and the way we came out could have been better. Just our energy and effort, I thought we could have gave a little bit more on both sides of the ball, especially defensively.”
“I feel like that’s kind of been the case for the last week or so that we’ve fallen short,” Herro continued. “So, all games that we put ourselves in a position to win and then there’s small pockets throughout the game where we’re not giving our effort, lack of attention to detail, lax. And you see we’re in the games and then we lose by three or four, whatever it may be. But we’re there, we just got to figure out how we can sustain a 48-minute game so that we can win these games.”
Heat is “disappointed” and “frustrated” where they're currently at
Even with Herro scoring 40 points against the Mavericks, the team still lost even with the opponent missing their entire starting lineup with such absences of Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington, Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively, and more. Though the Heat was missing Andrew Wiggins, Bam Adebayo, Terry Rozier, and Kevin Love, they were in position multiple times to win the game.
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke about how the emotions of the team are that they are “disappointed” and “frustrated” with their performances. However, Spoelstra still has a half-full-glass approach and is confident they will turn around their season.
“Everybody understands the urgency right now,” Spoelstra said. “There’s not a man in that locker room that doesn’t understand it. We’re disappointed, we’re frustrated. This is humbling.”
“We’re going to correct that,” Spoelstra continued. “We’re going to get better. We have enough experience with it now. Our guys are fully aware of that. Everybody wants to be better in these situations when we’re up. We’ll take a few days off. I’ll get to work, the staff will get to work. We’ll do what we need to do. I promise, we’re going to correct this.”
The loss to Oklahoma City was a heartbreaker as the Heat dominated the No. 1 team in the Western Conference for most, even leading by as much as 21 points. Leading double-digits heading into the final frame, the Thunder went on a 24-0 run to take their first lead of the game and never turned back as Miami scored a measly eight points in the quarter.
Tyler Herro on the sense of urgency of the Heat
As Herro would mention, the Heat is getting their newcomers Wiggins, Davion Mitchell, and Kyle Anderson into the system while also having to continue to adapt without Butler. However, the fourth-quarter lulls continue as there have been four times in the NBA where a team scores in single-digits in the period with Miami doing that three times.
“I don’t have the answer,” Herro said when asked what exactly will fix the late-game deficiencies. “Otherwise, we would do it.”
While the leading scorer for the Heat in Herro doesn't have the answers, he has the ability, along with Spoelstra and Adebayo, to lead the team in the right direction that could lead to a breakthrough. After the All-Star break, part of that solution could be the sense of urgency that is desperately needed with little time remaining.
“This is important,” Herro said of the sense of urgency. “This needs to matter to everybody in this locker room every single day, every single night, every single film session, shootaround, walkthrough, everything. I think that’s something that we also have to continue to improve at. The games aren’t the only thing that matter. Everything matters.”
“We just need to get on the same page going into these last 29 games,” Herro continued.
Heat has a home advantage to close out the season
If there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it's that once Miami comes back from the break, they will be spending a lot of time at home to turn their season around. Out of the 29 games left in the season, 18 of them will be at the Kaseya Center, giving the team comfortability.
“This is what the league is right now, where all the teams are on any given week,” Spoelstra said. “These games, they have so much impact and so much meaning.”
There is no doubt that the All-Star break for the Heat comes at the perfect time as Herro shares how significant it will be for everybody to reset mentally and physically.
“It’s going to be very important,” Herro said as he'll celebrate being a first-time All-Star. “I think, obviously, everybody needs time away, enjoy their breaks, take care of their bodies. I think we’re going to get healthy, which for the most part we’ve been this year. But just getting everyone after making that trade, just getting everyone together, spending time with each other and we’ll be alright.”
Miami is currently 25-28 which puts them eighth in the Eastern Conference as their next game after the break is against the Toronto Raptors on Feb. 21.
