Erik Spoelstra sends warning about 'deflating plays' costing the Heat

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After the Miami Heat had a crucial win against the Indiana Pacers in NBA Cup group play, the second time around facing the same team didn’t go as well as they lost Sunday evening, 119-110. Despite the Heat suffering injuries to Jaime Jaquez Jr. and still being without star Jimmy Butler, head coach Erik Spoelstra would speak after the defeat about what went wrong and what exactly is costing the team wins.

One of the disappointing aspects of Miami’s loss was their performance around the rim, which was a focus going into the season as they prioritized shots in the paint and from three-point range. In fact, Indiana outscored them in that metric, having 62 paint points to the Heat’s 28, as a lot were missed layups that Spoelstra saw as “deflating plays,” according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

"Those sometimes can be deflating plays if you miss layups and it ends up being a four or five-point swing, but those things happen," Spoelstra said. "If you're generating them, I'm good with it. But if we miss them, we can't lag back and then it turn into an open shot going the other way. We'll definitely chart that. Any missed layup, what was our field goal percentage allowed on that very next possession."

Heat’s struggles on two-point shots have been a concerning trend 

The other important focus for the Heat to play faster was shooting efficiently from beyond the arch, which is what happened Sunday against the Pacers, but being unable to capitalize in both areas is what ruined their chances.

Looking at the Heat’s shooting from three this season in general, they have been very good so far, as they had the fourth-best three-point shooting percentage heading into the game at 38.5 percent. Against Indiana on Sunday, it was once again solid, making 19 off 44 attempts from deep, which equates to 43.2 percent compared to their opponents who made 13 of 29.

Still, it was the efficiency on closer shots that made a difference, as while the Heat have been a good three-point shooting team so far, the two-point shooting has been an issue. Looking at the rest of the league, Miami entered Sunday evening’s game with the third worst shooting percentage on two-point shots at 50 percent, and against Indiana, they made 17 of 46 or 37 percent from that range and from inside the paint, they were 14 of 37 or 37.8 percent.

"For the most part, they were able to control the big muscle areas of the game," Spoelstra said on the aspect where the Pacers were better than the Heat. "Attacking us in the paint, whether it was drives, cuts, post-ups, offensive rebounds. That set the tenor of the game."

Heat’s late-game run was too late in Pacers rematch

It was another slow start for the Heat where they never held a lead for the entire game, but after the Pacers led by as much as 16 points with three minutes and change left in the third quarter, Miami turned it on a notch. They would go on a 35-19 run, which highlighted their shooting from beyond the arch, but it would be too little too late as Indiana found a way to close it out as Spoelstra mentioned how they put themselves in a position to catch up.

"When you leave it to that, where everything has to go perfect down the stretch, that's sometimes what you're susceptible to," Spoelstra said.

Leading the team once again was Heat star Tyler Herro, who continues on his impressive start to the season as he finished with 28 points on eight for 18 shooting, where seven of the makes were three-pointers, to go along with four assists and four rebounds. 19 of those points did come in the fourth quarter, as one could argue if he was consistent throughout the game along with the rest of his teammates, the result could have been different.

Heat center Bam Adebayo had another solid game despite a slow start as he scored 24 points on nine for 18 shooting, including making two from deep out of four attempts, to pair with eight rebounds and two assists. Duncan Robinson would also have a good game, contributing with 20 points off the bench on six for 10 shooting, including five makes from deep.

Heat’s Erik Spoelstra sees team making strides despite disappointment

The loss to the Pacers Sunday ended a rough six-game road trip for them as they finished 2-4 in that span, which included the Heat’s frustrating loss to the Detroit Pistons, defined by Spoelstra’s mental error. Still, the head coach took the good with the bad in terms of answering if he saw positives to take away despite middling results.

"Yes to both, for sure," Spoelstra said via The Miami Herald. "We feel like we're making some strides of figuring out what our identity is to win basketball games. But it's also OK to be disappointed with the end result of this road trip, what the record was on it. Both things can be true."

Looking at Herro’s fast start, even though fans were speculating about his role, he leads the team with 24.8 points per game as he’s been the Heat’s driving force on offense, especially with Butler missing the last four games. While there is no doubt it’s positive to see this improvement, he is more worried about winning and believes there needs to be more urgency after the road trip.

"It's early in the season, but another 10 games, and it's almost the mid-midpoint," Herro said. "So at some point, we have to turn it on and start taking this more seriously. I think we're still building our identity and we'll be alright."

Heat’s Jimmy Butler likely status for next game 

The team looks to hopefully be at full strength as there was hope Butler would return Sunday against the Pacers, but the Heat star was downgraded to out after being upgraded to “questionable” before the contest. However, Spoelstra would say he is continuing to make progress.

"He's definitely making progress, for sure," Spoelstra said before Sunday's game.

In terms of the expectation, Butler should be ready to return for Monday’s outing as the team returns to Miami and hosts the Philadelphia 76ers in what will be a crucial game. At any rate, the Heat is currently 5-7, which puts them at ninth in the Eastern Conference.

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