Takeaways from the Heat’s loss to Memphis – Miami’s fourth consecutive setback

Five takeaways from the Heat’s 105-96 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night at Kaseya Center:

▪ The Heat rallied late but ultimately sustained a fourth consecutive bad loss, this against a Memphis team missing nine players, including two-time All Star Ja Morant and three other starters.

So how do you lose at home to an injury-ravaged 17-27 team whose best available player (Jaren Jackson Jr.) shoots 5 for 21 from the field?

By shooting poorly (40.2 percent from the field), handling the ball carelessly (17 turnovers leading to 24 Memphis points) and allowing the Grizzlies to nail a bunch of threes.

In the process, the Heat (24-20) lost its fourth in a row and failed to reach 100 points for the fourth time in five games. Miami has the third-most sub-100 point games in the league. And this was arguably the Heat’s worst loss of the season, considering the decimated competition.

The Heat was undone by persistent turnover issues and more errant shooting – including 11 for 33 on threes. And Miami shot just 21 for 44 in the paint and 15 for 27 at the rim.

Meanwhile, Memphis shot 17 for 36 on threes (47.2 percent).

Down 82-68 to open the fourth quarter, Miami unleashed a 12-4 run to cut a 14-point deficit to 90-85 with just under six minutes left.

A Duncan Robinson three left the Heat down four, but Jackson’s basket put Memphis up six, and Bam Adebayo missed two shots in the basket area.

Jimmy Butler then took an elbow to the face from Vince Williams Jr., drawing blood.

Terry Rozier, in his Heat debut, then drove and dished to Caleb Martin, who hit his third three-pointer of the quarter to pull Miami to within 96-93. A bit later, Tyler Herro hit a three to pull the Heat to within 98-96.

But after a turnover by Jackson, Rozier missed a three with 1:27 left, leaving Memphis still up two. Williams then hit an open corner three, putting the Grizzlies up five.

And after a miss by Adebayo, nobody covered the backcourt defensively and John Konchar had an easy layup to push the Grizzlies’ lead back to seven with 47 seconds left.

Memphis closed the game on a 7-0 run.

“Right now, it’s one of these periods in an NBA season that’s funky,” Erik Spoelstra said. “I can’t even explain it. That’s basically what I told the group. There were uncharacteristic plays offensively. We did a lot of good things offensively and then it led to a missed shot or a shot that rimmed in or out.”

Jimmy Butler finished with 15, closing with as many turnovers (four) as baskets from the field. He took only 10 shots.

Herro finished with 18 points on an 8 for 15 shooting night and also committed four turnovers.

Adebayo (15 points) was a menace defensively (six blocks) and on the glass (15 rebounds) and dished out six assists but struggled offensively (shooting 4 for 13) against reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Jackson, among others.

▪ Rozier’s Heat debut had some good moments, but this wasn’t one of his better nights.

There was one signature moment, when Rozier left Xavier Tillman in his tracks with a crossover dribble and hit a driving scoop shot to leave Miami down nine early in the fourth.

Then there was another, when another Rozier scoop shot left the Heat down 90-85 and 5:41 left.

He finished the night with nine points on 3 for 11 shooting, including 1 for 5 on threes, in 29 minutes. He had five assists, four rebounds, two steals and three turnovers. The Heat was outscored by 13 minutes when he was on the court, the worst plus/minus for any player in Tuesday’s game.

Rozier wasn’t happy with how he played. “I make no excuses. If I’m going to play, I’m going to give it my all,” said Rozier, who entered averaging 23.2 points, 25th in the league.

He played off the bench for the first time since April 2019, when he played for the Celtics. That ended a streak of 199 consecutive starts.

“It’s tough to go through 24 hours of a battery of physicals and doctors appointments and change of life,” Spoelstra said. “I’m not making any excuse for the guy, but it’s not easy. You see the possibilities there. He is extremely skilled offensively... Defensively, he can be very disruptive.”

Rozier entered to applause with 3:37 left in the first quarter and the Heat down four and scored his first Heat points 2:02 later on two free throws after being fouled driving to the basket.

He shot 1 for 5 in the first half, missing three shots on drives to the basket and another on a three.

“Getting as comfortable as I can,” Rozier said. “It’s not going to happen in one day... I’m going to figure it out.”

Spoelstra, who always tries to stay positive and was very much so after this game, had a human moment when asked what he saw with Rozier and Herro playing together.

“It’s tough to be excited right now; this is a buzz kill in the season, what we’re dealing with,” Spoelstra said, before turning positive again.

▪ The Heat’s offensive malaise continued.

Miami’s shooting and scoring have regressed badly in the continued absence of rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr., who missed his fifth game in a row with a groin injury.

Wednesday was a slog from the start; Memphis opened 0 for 6 and still led 8-6 early.

The Heat entered averaging 95 points and 17 turnovers and shooting 31 percent on threes in a three-game losing streak featuring lopsided losses at Toronto and Orlando, sandwiched by a heartbreaking home loss to Atlanta.

This one, offensively, looked very much like the last three - ugly and inefficient and disjointed.

Miami shot 33 percent from the field and 25 percent on threes (4 for 16) in falling behind 49-42 at the half. This was nothing new; the Heat had trailed by 13 points per game over its past three first halves.

“We’re all trying to play the right way,” Adebayo said. “That sometimes gets us in trouble, passing up shots, double driving. Some dudes, when they’re open, they pass it [up]. Everyone is trying to really buy into what coach is saying and it gets us in trouble some times.... We pass up shots that are open. We over-drive.”

At one point, the Heat missed 14 consecutive shots before Rozier’s only first half basket.

Some of the missed shots were well contested, but the Heat also continued missing shots at point blank range and misfiring on too many open threes (nobody was in the same area code as Haywood Highsmith on one of those misses).

After averaging 114.3 points per game in November and 114.8 in December, the Heat has slumped to 103.8 points per game in January on 34 percent three-point shooting. Miami entered the month shooting nearly 38 percent on threes, among the best in the league.

“Nobody is happy or comfortable with this,” Spoelstra said. “I know a lot of guys are trying to do the right thing offensively. I don’t want the group to get frustrated. A breakthrough is right around the corner.”

And now the NBA’s best team - Boston (34-10) - comes to Kaseya Center on Thursday night (7:30 p.m., TNT) averaging 120.3 points per game. So the Heat likely won’t be able to survive another poor offensive night on Thursday.

“We have No. 1 team in the East coming in tomorrow and we have a group that’s very competitive,” Spoelstra said.

▪ Spoelstra tried his 24th different starting lineup.

The newest quintet featured Highsmith and Josh Richardson alongside Butler, Adebayo and Herro.

That group outscored Memphis 20-14 to start the game and 18-17 to start the second half.

Richardson’s insertion in the starting lineup could be temporary; Rozier ultimately could replace him.

Highsmith had two steals but Miami was outscored by nine points in his 24 minutes.

▪ The bench wasn’t very good for three quarters but came alive in the fourth.

Miami’s reserves (Kevin Love, Rozier, Martin, Robinson, Thomas Bryant) shot a combined 1 for 13 in the first half.

Meanwhile, GG Jackson, playing his 12th NBA game, outscored the Heat bench on his own in the first half en route to hitting four three pointers on a 17 point night.

Love missed all three of his shots in five first half minutes, then left for the night because he was feeling ill.

Martin and Robinson were helpful late after unremarkable starts.

Robinson missed his first four shots before hitting three baskets during Miami’s comeback, including a three-pointer that pulled Miami within 94-90. He closed 3 for 9 from the field on a seven-point night.

Martin didn’t hit a basket from the field until hitting two threes early in the fourth. Since last Monday’s win against Brooklyn, the Heat has been outscored by 54 points with Martin on the floor until his outstanding fourth quarter Tuesday. He finished with 15 points, four rebounds and two turnovers.

“I think this is a great opportunity for our team to have a breakthrough of mental toughness,” Spoelstra said, as the Heat’s worst week of the season became even worse.