Heat gets most of its players back, but still suffers ugly loss to league-worst Pistons
The Miami Heat was finally close to whole again Saturday and it still couldn’t stop the Heat from suffering one of its ugliest losses of a disjointed season.
Miami committed 23 turnovers and let the Detroit Pistons shoot 51.7 percent from the field on the way to a 120-100 loss to the worst team in the NBA. After two shorthanded losses to the Philadelphia 76ers earlier in the week, the lopsided loss to the Pistons at AmericanAirlines Arena was a new low point in a frustrating season for the Heat and extended Miami’s losing streak to three games — its longest in more than 11 months.
The Heat (4-7) played those two games in Philadelphia with only eight players available because of COVID-19 and contact tracing. On Saturday, six of the eight missing players — guards Goran Dragic and Kendrick Nunn, and forwards KZ Okpala, Maurice Harkless, Udonis Haslem and Bam Adebayo — all returned. The result wasn’t any better.
Those 22 turnovers led to 27 points for Detroit, and the Pistons (3-9) went 46 of 90 from the floor and attempted 23 more shots than Miami. They also shot 40.0 percent from three-point range and and assisted on 34 of their 46 field goals
The Heat still had COVID-related challenges, like almost everyone in the NBA at this point. All-Star forward Jimmy Butler remained sidelined because of those health and safety protocols, as did wing Avery Bradley. Combo guard Tyler Herro, Miami’s leading scorer this season, sat because of neck spasms and even those six who returned hadn’t taken part in any team activities since last Saturday, when the Heat opened the road trip with a win against the Washington Wizards.
From there, the road trip became unlike anything Miami had ever experienced. The Heat’s next game against the Boston Celtics — originally scheduled for Sunday — was postponed because Miami didn’t have enough players available. For the next two, the Heat played with the league’s minimum allowed. Miami lost once in overtime, then once in a blowout. Coach Erik Spoelstra said those watching from South Florida were “inspired.”
Adebayo was one of those and his return to the lineup was immediately noticeable. The Heat’s starting group was still once it had never used before — point guard Gabe Vincent, swingman Duncan Robinson, post player Kelly Olynyk, Okpala and Adebayo — but Adebayo gave Miami a much-missed All-Star linchpin. On his first play in a week, Adebayo attacked off the dribble and pulled up to hit an 11-foot jumper in the paint to put Miami ahead 2-0.
In the first half, he scored 18 points and went 3 of 3 on midrange jumpers — including a last-second and-one — to give the Heat a 56-52 halftime lead. The post player finished with 28 points, seven rebounds and six assists on 8-of-11 shooting.
Shooting wasn’t the issue for Miami, even with about half of its players missing a full week of action. Robinson scored 22 and went 5 of 8 from three-point range. Okpala, making his first career start, scored 16 and went 4 of 5 from three. As a team, the Heat shot 47.8 percent from the field, 41.4 from deep and 88.9 from the free-throw line. The 23 turnovers instead helped make offense easy for the Pistons, too, and Detroit ran away from Miami by outscoring the Heat, 38-19, in the third quarter in Miami.
