This is an unfamiliar spot for Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. Through Spoelstra’s first 16 seasons as the Heat’s head coach, the team has finished the regular season with a losing record just twice.
But unless the Heat turns things around quickly, Spoelstra’s third sub-.500 regular season since becoming the Heat’s head coach in 2008 is coming. With just one month left in the regular season, the Heat enters Wednesday night’s matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers at Kaseya Center with a 29-35 record and losses in 11 of its last 15 games.
“He’s been very positive,” Heat 17-year NBA veteran Kevin Love said when asked how Spoelstra has handled this turbulent stretch. “He’s somebody who’s always in a growth mindset. He’s somebody who always wants to see guys get better. He has done a lot better job of celebrating the small wins throughout the course of a season. He hasn’t stopped coaching us and coaching us hard. If anything, he’s done more, he’s done extra, he’s done one more thing in order to help us.
“As far as preparation goes, I haven’t seen anybody better than him. So he’s continuing to do that and be himself at an extremely high level. So I think that that is something that has continued to show throughout this lull and ugly stretch that we’ve been in.”
Spoelstra has used a positive and optimistic tone when speaking to the media, too.
“There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of stress in our lives,” Spoelstra said after Tuesday’s practice. “We’ve got a lot of good things going for us to be able to be in this profession, be around each other. But there is a beauty in the grind, beauty in the struggle. If we just keep on forging ahead, I do believe that there’s something beautiful on the other side.”
So, Spoelstra opts to spread optimism and hope without ripping into the team during these types of tough stretches?
“Well, he does that, too,” Love, 36, said with a grin.
All with the goal of helping the Heat get through this dark time, which has included a blown fourth-quarter lead in eight of its last nine losses ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Clippers. The Heat has wasted a fourth-quarter lead in a total of 15 losses this season, which is the second-most in the NBA behind only the Minnesota Timberwolves (16 blown fourth-quarter leads).
The Heat also entered Wednesday with a blown a double-digit lead in 17 losses this season, which is the second-most such collapses in the NBA this season behind only the Utah Jazz (18 blown double-digit leads).
“It’s really tough right now,” Love continued. “I’ve seen stretches like this during the course of my 17 years. So I think it’s just making sure that we continue to be a unit, we stay together, understand that there is a reason that we’ve had second-half leads and double-digit fourth-quarter leads. But it’s just that the good teams always find a way to win. And we’re just not there yet.
“We need to find a way to get over the hump and do all the right things and be hungry enough to win those games in crunch time. Obviously, we have the talent, we have the coaches that put us in the right position. In some cases, we just have to want it more. That’s not calling guys out. That was something that was preached [in Tuesday’s practice] by many.”
Love made clear that the Heat’s rough stretch is “not for a lack of effort and intention.” Miami entered Wednesday’s matchup against the Clippers with a 12-21 record since Jan. 2 and on track to have to qualify for the playoffs through the NBA’s play-in tournament for the third straight season.
“Sure, there are some missed assignments throughout the game,” Love said. “But it’s not for lack of intention, and we’re so dialed in. We go over it on film, we go over it in practice. We are always the most prepared team. I mean, the game plan is right there for us to go out there and execute and we play so well. I hate to use the word deserve like we deserve to win, but we put ourselves in a lot of opportunities to win.”
Among the worst fourth-quarter teams in the NBA, the Heat knows it needs to be better on both ends of the court in late-game situations to hold on to leads. But Heat coaches and players also believe they’ve run into a stretch of unfortunate luck.
“I think it’s timing, it’s luck, it’s the basketball gods,” Love said. “I don’t know what it is. I feel like it happens to one or two teams every year. Unfortunately it happens to be us. But it’s not for lack of us really pushing to get better because we really have.”
While this is somewhat unfamiliar territory for Spoelstra, Love has been a part of something like this before during his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“I feel like maybe after LeBron [James] left, not the first year,” Love said. “It was like the second or third year after he left, we had a number of second halves when we just couldn’t get over the hump.”
During the 2021-22 season, Love and the Cavaliers blew a double-digit lead in an NBA-high 17 losses. Love remembers the pain from that season, but he also remembers the feeling of relief when the Cavaliers started solving some of their issues to hold on to leads more often.
“I have been through a stretch like this before and it feels really good to come out on the other side, let me tell you,” Love said.
Then Love reflected on what he has endured with the Heat over the last few weeks.
“This is wild,” he said.
INJURY REPORT
The Heat remains without Josh Christopher (G League), Nikola Jovic (broken right hand) and Dru Smith (left Achilles surgery) for Wednesday’s home game against the Clippers.
Alec Burks, who has missed the last three games, is listed as questionable because of a lower back strain.
Terry Rozier, who didn’t practice with the team on Tuesday, is probable to play with an illness.
The Clippers have not yet released their injury report, as they began their back-to-back set on Tuesday night with a 127-120 loss to the Pelicans in New Orleans. The Clippers will issue their injury report on Wednesday afternoon ahead of Wednesday night’s game in Miami.
Miami Herald
305-376-4991
Anthony Chiang covers the Miami Heat for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and was born and raised in Miami.