Takeaways and details from Heat’s second ugly loss in three games — this one to the Spurs

After opening its three-game homestand with a loss to a team at the bottom of the NBA standings, the Miami Heat didn’t want to make the same mistake to end the homestand.

But the Heat (12-15) did just that, falling to the rebuilding San Antonio Spurs 115-111 on Saturday night at FTX Arena to close the homestand at 1-2. It marked the Heat’s second bad loss in three games after losing to the struggling Detroit Pistons on Tuesday.

The Pistons hold the worst record in the Eastern Conference and the Spurs (8-18) hold the second-worst record in the Western Conference.

“Hopefully this pain will drive us to a higher level,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said following Saturday’s loss. “We need to get to a higher level, we need to get to a better level collectively. That’s what I’m hoping. Frustration, pain, anger, whatever adjective you want to fill in there, hopefully that drives us to a better place as we move forward.”

The Heat had a chance to steal the win on Saturday after a big mistake by the Spurs in the final seconds, but didn’t take advantage.

The Spurs led by two points with 14.7 seconds to play and just needed to inbound the ball to force an intentional foul from the Heat. But Spurs center Zach Collins was called for a foul on the inbounds pass to give the Heat one last chance to win or tie the game.

But instead of going for the tie to force overtime, the Heat went for the win. It didn’t work out, as Tyler Herro missed a three-pointer with 9.2 seconds to play and Caleb Martin missed a three-pointer with 2.1 seconds on the clock after an offensive rebound from Bam Adebayo in the middle of the possession.

The Heat’s defense struggled for most of the game, as the Spurs totaled 115 points on 53.8 percent shooting from the field.

San Antonio’s offense had its way with Miami’s defense from the start, shooting an ultra-efficient 58.1 percent from the field in the first two quarters to enter halftime with a 59-57 lead over the Heat.

The Spurs have now won two straight games after snapping an 11-game losing skid. On Saturday, San Antonio was led by Keldon Johnson, who finished with a team-high 21 points.

The Heat wasted a 30-point performance from Jimmy Butler. Tyler Herro contributed 23 points, five rebounds and five assists.

“Just the way that we’re playing isn’t how we’re used to playing,” Herro said. “No matter our opponent, we should be playing how we play and making teams adjust to us. I feel like we’re kind of playing to our opponent’s level.”

Next up for the Heat is a four-game trip that begins on Monday against the Indiana Pacers.

Five takeaways from the Heat’s loss to the Spurs on Saturday:

With a chance to tie or win the game in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, the Heat opted to go for the win.

The Heat missed its final four shots of the contest, but it was the final two shots that got all the attention.

With the Heat trailing by two points with 14.7 seconds left to play and in possession of the ball coming out of a timeout, Miami opted to take two three-pointers that likely would have won the game instead of getting into the paint to try to force overtime.

The first one came just a few seconds into the possession.

Herro caught the inbounds pass from Kyle Lowry, got a screen from Butler to force the switch. The switch created some space for Herro to put up a quick three-point shot that hit off the side of the rim with 9.2 seconds remaining.

“I wanted to go for the win,” Herro said. “We talked about it in the huddle. Give me the ball, Jimmy set a screen, we knew they would switch and kind of just go for the win.”

Adebayo was then able to grab the offensive rebound in the paint. Instead of going up with it himself to try for the tie, he passed it out to Martin on the right wing for a clean three-point look that bounced off the front of the rim 2.1 seconds on the clock.

“Obviously going for the win is getting it over with,” said Adebayo, who finished the loss with 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists. “I felt like Caleb was open. It was just short. We’ll watch film and figure it out.”

The Spurs came away with the defensive rebound before the Heat took an intentional foul to extend the game. But San Antonio guard Tre Jones hit both free throws to push the lead to four and seal the win.

“It was a pick and roll between Tyler and Jimmy,” Spoelstra said of the initial action on the Heat’s final offensive possession. “It wasn’t the cleanest pick and roll. But it’s the action that everybody felt most comfortable with and we just didn’t get anything really to put them on their heels. But we got a great offensive rebound and a good kick out from there.

“When these games always end up in the last possession, I know what the players are thinking. They’re always just thinking about missed shots. We had probably three or four down the stretch where we missed that were makeable shots.”

The Heat has played in a league-high 18 clutch games this season and is 9-9 in those games. A clutch game is defined as a game that has a margin of five points or fewer inside the final five minutes of the fourth quarter.

The Heat’s defense struggled against one of the NBA’s worst offenses.

The Heat entered with the NBA’s 12th-best defensive rating and the Spurs entered with the NBA’s second-worst offensive rating.

But the Spurs’ offense looked like the better unit on Saturday, totaling 115 points on 53.8 percent shooting from the field.

The Spurs shot just 7 of 21 from three-point range and committed 18 turnovers, but they did their damage around the basket with 54 paint points. It’s the fourth-most paint points that the Heat has allowed in a game this season.

The Spurs actually only finished with 12 shots at the rim, which is a low number considering they average 26.6 shots from within the restricted area per game this season.

But San Antonio was excellent on non-rim paint shots, shooting 16 of 29 (55.2 percent) from that in-between area. The league average shooting percentage for non-rim paint shots is 42.8 percent.

“It’s just everything they do is with a great motor and intensity and that’s as consistent as anyone in this league,” Spoelstra said of the Spurs’ offense. “Their half-court pace is probably as fast as anybody in this league just in terms of how fast they run out of hand-offs and how fast and violent they go on their catch and goes. We just didn’t handle that pace well.”

The Heat struggled to contain dribble penetration from the start, as the Spurs totaled 36 paint points in the first half. That’s tied for the most paint points Miami has allowed in a single half this season.

Six Spurs players finished with double-digit points.

Heat reserve Max Strus did not play in the second half because of a “coach’s decision.”

After logging 15:57 off the bench in Saturday’s first half, Strus did not play in the second half.

Instead, Duncan Robinson got Strus’ minutes in the second half to finish with three points and one rebound in nine minutes off the Heat’s bench.

When asked about the decision to sit Strus in the second half, all Spoelstra said was: “That was a coach’s decision.”

Robinson had not played in three of the previous four games, falling out of the rotation with the Heat’s roster getting healthier.

The Heat’s bench was outscored 47-20 on Saturday.

Rookie Nikola Jovic was one of four Heat players who were not available for Saturday’s game, but it wasn’t because of an injury.

Jovic was sent Friday to South Dakota for some time with the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, as part of the team’s development plan for the 19-year-old Serbian forward.

In the Skyforce’s 113-102 win over the Motor City Cruise on Friday, Jovic recorded nine points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field and 1-of-7 shooting from three-point range, 11 rebounds and four assists in 32 minutes. It marked Jovic’s second game with the Skyforce, as he made his G League debut last Sunday before returning to the Heat for a few days.

The back and fourth will likely continue, as Jovic is expected to again rejoin the Heat soon.

“Everything is important for him this year,” Spoelstra said when asked Saturday about Jovic’s time in the G League. “When he’s with us, it’s important just to see how we operate, what’s expected from a workload standpoint, player development standpoint. Then also learning how to stay ready so you don’t have to get ready and then your opportunities can happen at any time.

“But certainly for him to be able to go there and get some more extended minutes, that helps. And we’re not just going to play him 40-plus minutes. He has to earn those minutes and contribute to winning to be able to get more minutes.”

Along with Jovic, the Heat was also without Jamal Cain (G League), Gabe Vincent (left knee effusion) and Omer Yurtseven (left ankle surgery) for Saturday’s game.

The Heat has reached a soft spot in its schedule that it needs to take advantage of, but it’s off to a very bad start.

Saturday’s loss to the Spurs marked the start of a six-game stretch for the Heat that includes five games against teams that currently have a sub-.500 record.

But considering the Heat lost to the Pistons on Tuesday and the Spurs on Saturday, Miami has not made the most of its opportunities against teams below it in the standings.

The Spurs entered with the NBA’s second-worst offensive rating, worst defensive rating and worst net rating. The Heat will take on the Spurs again during this six-game span — in a week this upcoming Saturday in Mexico City.

The Heat, which closed last regular season at the top of the Eastern Conference, currently sits in 10th place in the East.