The Miami Heat had a difficult two-game road trip; on Friday night, they fell short of the Oklahoma City Thunder
107-100 after losing a close game to the Dallas Mavericks.
Miami finishes the season with a 35-28 record but holds the sixth seed. Taking down Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and
Luka Doncic on consecutive nights was going to be a tough task. Nevertheless, with the Heat leading by double digits
in the first half of each game, both were winnable.
In Oklahoma City on Friday night, the Heat looked good. They led by ten points at the break because to their
excellent defensive performance in the first half. Patty Mills, making his Heat debut, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. provided
some sparks off the bench for them. Jaquez scored a game-high 25 points, scoring 10 of 13 points with efficiency, to
lead the squad.
Miami’s already impressive lineup got much better. Patty Mills, a 35-year-old free agent, was signed by the Heat last
week. Given that the Heat had also signed defensive-minded player Delon Wright off the buyout market a few weeks
prior, it initially appeared to be an arbitrary signing. However, the team needed another guard on the roster as Josh
Richardson underwent shoulder surgery that ended the season.
Jimmy Butler finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists, almost achieving a triple-double.
Conversely, Bam Adebayo had a disappointing performance, finishing the game with just five points on a poor 1 of 9
shooting effort. When facing offensive heavyweights like the Thunder, Adebayo can cover shooting performances like
this with a plethora of other skills, but Miami will just need more from him offensively. Terry Rozier contributed five
rebounds, four assists, and 14 points while shooting the ball well. He also performed well. But there must be enough
firepower to counter when Gilgeous-Alexander is lighting up teams with 37 points, as he did against the Heat. No
Heat player scored more than 20 points, with the exception of Jaquez, who came off the bench.
Herro might have made a big impact for the Heat versus guys like Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander, who are capable
of winning MVP awards. The Heat would have been able to stay up with those offenses if he had been able to
generate his own offense quickly.
The bad news is that the Heat have lost their last two games. The good news is that the schedule’s most difficult
back-to-back set is now behind us. The Heat are still in sixth place in the East despite their record getting worse and
them staying put in the standings. They trail the fifth seed by just one and a half games as well. On Sunday, Miami
has a favorable opportunity to recover at home against the struggling Washington Wizards.
