After blowing another fourth-quarter lead in Wednesday night’s road loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the injury-depleted Heat returns to Miami looking for wins and some good news on the injury front.
The Heat, which has been without multiple starters and a handful of rotation players for the last two games, could get a few players back from injury when it opens a five-game homestand on Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves (8 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun).
In the wake of Heat rotation regulars Tyler Herro (head cold), Jaime Jaquez (right ankle sprain), Nikola Jovic (broken right hand), Kel’el Ware (left knee sprain) and Andrew Wiggins (right ankle sprain) all missing the Heat’s 112-107 loss to the NBA-leading Cavaliers at Rocket Arena on Wednesday after recently sustaining injuries, Herro, Jaquez and Wiggins have been upgraded to questionable for Friday’s matchup against the Timberwolves.
Herro has missed one game with his head cold, Jaquez has missed three games with his sprained ankle and Wiggins has missed four games with his sprained ankle.
However, Ware and Jovic have again been ruled out for Friday’s contest. Ware will sit out his third straight game and Jovic will sit out his seventh straight game.
Dru Smith, who suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in December, remains unavailable for the Heat on Friday.
Josh Christopher will also miss Friday’s game in Miami. He’s back in the G League as part of his two-way contract after joining the undermanned Heat in Cleveland for Wednesday’s game against the Cavaliers.
There’s also one new injury: Heat guard Alec Burks is listed as questionable for Friday’s contest against the Timberwolves because of low back pain. Burks played 25 minutes in Wednesday’s loss to the Cavaliers.
With 21 regular-season games left to play, the Heat enters Thursday in seventh place in the Eastern Conference and on track to be in the NBA’s play-in tournament for the third straight season. Miami is five games behind the sixth-place Detroit Pistons for the final playoff spot in the East that doesn’t require having to go through play-in.
Another blown lead
Wednesday’s five-point setback in Cleveland marked the 12th game that Miami has lost after leading in the fourth quarter. The Heat has squandered fourth quarter leads in five of its past six losses.
On Wednesday, the Heat went ahead by as many as seven in the fourth and led by five with 4:13 left. But the Cavaliers closed the game on a 12-2 run.
Bam Adebayo said simple things are dooming the Heat late in games.
“It’s not glaring mistakes; it’s the small stuff between the lines that a lot of people don’t notice,” Adebayo said. “Missed box out, offensive rebounding, those types of things. We take half of that and we win the game by six or four.”
On Wednesday, the Heat failed to score on six consecutive possessions late in the game.
“There’s a lot of emotions right now,” Spoelstra said. “I’ve been saying for awhile that there are a lot more good things than not…. The pain has got to hurt to get us over the top. It can be one play that can be a deciding factor. That can be myself [with a decision]. Make one more play, the outcome could be different.”
But Spoelstra remains perpetually positive, even with Miami at 29-32. “I can see there is a standard that’s being created,” he said. “There are good things happening. We have to stay the course through the frustration.”
Duncan Robinson said “this has been a painful process for sure, being in all these games, being right there. It’s just a matter of getting over the hump.”
This and that
▪ Kyle Anderson, 6-9, said he’s comfortable playing center in Miami’s zone, and Spoelstra believes he can handle it. He had 11 rebounds in 25 minutes against Cleveland’s imposing front line.
“I made a few mistakes in the first Atlanta game in the zone and learned the second time we played them,” Anderson said. “I’m pretty comfortable in the three positions I’m expected to play.
“It’s been a lot trying to learn everything but I think it’s coming together.”
Spoelstra likes that Anderson “has been able to pick up our multiple defensive schemes at different positions.” And offensively, “he provides something out of nothing. We need those random plays Kyle can provide. He can find his way into a basket, seeing the play before it happens.”
▪ Former Heat wing Max Strus was defending Adebayo on a key late Adebayo turnover. Strus said Adebayo “was telling me to guard him all game. When it came down to it, I got the chance. You could say the ball might have slipped out of his hands. Or he might have felt my presence.”
▪ Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell and coach Kenny Atkinson heaped praise on the Heat’s zone defense. Cleveland’s 112 points were 11 below its season average.
“They’re the experts of it, do a phenomenal job, been doing it for years,” Mitchell said. “They played zone pretty much the whole game. It allows them to keep guys you would typically hunt on defense on the floor. We did a good job figuring it out” late in the game.
“In a game where you’re not favored, it’s really a smart strategy,” Atkinson said of the zone.
Atkinson commended the Heat for their “toughness, resiliency, guys playing over their head.”