Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The Heat soiled themselves and stained Pat Riley Court in the loss to the Trail Blazers

Joe Cronin’s Trail Blazers embarrassed the Heat at Kaseya Center. A late spurt in the fourth quarter made sure the box score wasn’t as ugly as it could’ve been, but for most stretches, the hosts looked like the team that came in 14 games below .500.  And Deandre Ayton was twice the center Bam Adebayo was.

“Without Tyler [Herro], our overall intentionality was not at its highest level,” coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game. 

Yet everything was rolling in the first quarter for the Heat. They made seven of nine treys, Adebayo’s jumper and hooks were falling, and Kel’el Ware’s length and athleticism contained the paint. 

The second quarter started with the Heat ahead 38-34. Then Portland raised its pressure, and the Heat’s offense soiled itself, staining Pat Riley court by scoring 25 points on 27% shooting through the next 19 minutes. Ayton feasted on the offensive glass and scored 12 points at close and mid-range in that span. And at one point, Scoot Henderson’s corner triple put the visitors up by 27 with three-and-a-half minutes left in the third. 

The fourth quarter started with the Heat down 97-77. Adebayo, Butler and Rozier were benched, and as the period went on, the Heat cut the deficit to seven in the fourth quarter on a 17-2. Portland took its foot off the gas for about eight minutes, but Simons responded with a layup on the right side, and Jerami Grant made freebies to put the game out of reach. 

The Heat lost 116-107. They had 46 paint points, five on the break, 13 via second chances, seven off turnovers and 31 from the bench. 

The Trail Blazers had 46 paint points, 21 on the break, 15 via second chances, eight off turnovers and 25 from the bench. 

The Heat won’t practice Wednesday, which is a shame because the offense looked rotorless for most of the game. Keep in mind, Riley used to consistently make players practice after getting off the plane if he felt they were not performing up to standard. 

Observations:

• Duncan Robinson and Ware were the only starters to play in the fourth quarter, logging every minute. Nikola Jović, Jaime Jaques Jr. and Pelle Larsson also played all of the fourth.

• The Heat were shut down in the paint non restricted area, making only 30% of attempts. The league average in that spot is 43.7%.

• In Ware’s first start, he put up 20 points on eight of 17 attempts, with 15 rebounds and two blocks. He said, “I waited my whole life to be able to start an NBA game.”

• The Heat’s offense spent 85% of the time in the half-court. They scored 83.3 points per 100 plays, good enough for the 11th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass.

• Adebayo had 12 points in the first half on 62.5% shooting but disappeared after, going scoreless the last seven minutes he played.