The Miami Heat entered the All-Star break in the midst of their longest losing streak of the 2024-25 season, losing four straight. As a result, they dropped to 25-28, which is the first time all season they were three games below .500.
While the Heat struggled significantly in the third quarter at the beginning of the new season, two of their most recent losses have come due to fourth-quarter disasters. After another disappointing finish Thursday against the depleted Dallas Mavericks, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra addressed the matter.
“We just have to be better,” he said. “We have to be better with our execution and intentionality with what we’re trying to do offensively. I understand there wasn’t going to be a lot of precision, execution either way because both teams were switching everything–taking away all the triggers. But intentionality needed to be better.
“You can alleviate a lot of that stuff with just (getting) multiple stops in a row. It happened–by the time I called that timeout, it was a minute-and-a-half 8-0 run. We’re going to correct that. We’re going to get better. We have enough experience with it now. Our guys are fully aware of it. Everybody wants to be better in those situations when we’re up.
“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.”
On Feb. 7 against the Brooklyn Nets, they led by six–77-71–entering the final period. Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored the quarter’s first points after taking Keon Johnson baseline on the right block. But it all went downhill from there. The Heat had three turnovers on their next four possessions while missing their next shots before Terry Rozier’s triple cut it to three–87-84–with 7:02 left.
The Heat didn’t make any of their final 12 shots thereafter. A similar problem percolated Wednesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, being on the wrong end of a 24-0 run that saw a 10-point fourth-quarter flip to a 14-point deficit with 6:27 left. Even after checking the starters in with 9:31 left, the Heat’s first points came courtesy of an above-the-break triple from Bam Adebayo, who finished the game with 27 points and 15 rebounds.
Basketball is a game of runs–though both were avalanches. Both games were episodic collapses for a group that’s had difficulty slamming the door. Miami scored nine and eight points in the period, respectively; it is the only team to have more than one single-digit scoring output in the fourth quarter this season–doing so thrice.
Since the start of the New Year, their 4Q NET Rating is a league-worst minus-13.1, nearly three points per 100 possessions worse than the next-worst.
That’s unfathomable. At this point, several parties deserve blame. Spoelstra hasn’t had the best season, but the continued struggles fall just as much as the players playing them. A house is only as strong as its foundation, and the foundation has become flimsy late in games regardless of who’s on the floor.
And that can’t continue under any circumstance, especially if the Heat want to have any aspirations of making their sixth-straight postseason.
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dwades retired jimmy went awol.poor eric has an avg roster so now hes an avg coach.tell your step dad to get u better players spobot only solution signed bernie bickerstaff jr