5 takeaways from the Miami Heat’s loss to the Portland Trailblazers

Despite leading 91-85 with three minutes remaining, the Miami Heat came up short on the road in Portland, 99-92.

1. Terrific road trip

Although they fell over at the last hurdle, a 2-1 record on the road was a great result considering the early season struggles. This game saw the Heat without Dion Waiters, Justise Winslow, Josh Richardson and Luke Babbitt with a variety of injuries. Furthermore, James Johnson was ejected right at the end of the third quarter after picking up his third technical foul. So considering it was the Heat’s third game in four nights, it was commendable that the team put themselves in a winning position with just minutes remaining.

2. Whiteside shines again

Center Hassan Whiteside was outstanding,  bouncing back from a relatively low-key game in Denver. Whiteside played a team-high 41 minutes and produced 28 points on 12-of-15 from the field, 16 rebounds and five blocks. He started off on fire, hitting 5-of-5 for 11 points in the first quarter to set the tone on the inside for the remainder of the game. For the season, Whiteside is now averaging 17.8 points, 14.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game.

3. The bench struggled mightily

With such a large amount of players sidelined., the performance of the bench was always going to be critical. Coming off his best performance for the Heat with 24 points against Denver, James Johnson produced just 2 points on 1-of-5 shooting and was a -20 while on the floor. His eventual ejection more or less summed up his night. The other Johnson, Tyler,  also struggled, shooting just 3-of-14 for 9 points, along with seven rebounds and four assists. Although his customary intensity was on full display, Johnson finished a team-high -27 while on the court. Willie Reed was the only other bench player used, logging just six minutes of game time.

4. Head-scratching moves

Throughout the season, head coach Erik Spoelstra has used three-guard lineups at multiple times. Down the stretch of this game, Spoelstra went to a four guard lineup consisting of Goran Dragic, Wayne Ellington, Tyler Johnson and Rodney McGruder. It was a curious decision, seeing as starting forward Josh McRoberts had posted his best game for the season with 13 points and four assists. Most of all, McRoberts had by far a team-high with a +17 while on the court. This not only put more pressure on Whiteside on the interior, it also meant the Heat guards were giving up size when battling on the boards. Furthermore, Whiteside was almost spent having not rested the entire second half.

Thus in the last minute of the game, when Whiteside was on the floor after falling at the offensive end, the Heat gave up an easy at the other as Ellington was stuck under the rim against Mo Harkless. As you can see in the video below, Whiteside trails in just at the end of the possession. If McRoberts was on the floor, this possibly could have been averted:

Again just a minute later, the following occurred where Harkless grabbed the offensive rebound as he was able to use his length to grab the crucial offensive rebound:

As can be seen from this video, Whiteside only had Tyler Johnson to assist him on the boards, which is clearly not enough help.

Aside from seven minutes of Willie Reed, Spoelstra essentially used seven players. It was clear towards the final stages of the game that Whiteisde’s 41 minutes had caught up with him. This was also noticed by renowned NBA gambler Haralabos Voulgaris:

It is clear now that for whatever reason, Derrick Williams has not earned the respect of Erik Spoelstra. But for a player who just recently started eight consecutive games, to not play Williams at all considering the injury toll and the way the bench was struggling was completely puzzling.

The players was clearly gassed playing their third game in four nights, and this was another head-scratching move by Spoelstra.

5. Dragic or bust

Goran Dragic again put in a great performance, finishing with 18 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and two steals. But Dragic’s impact was probably most notable when he was off the court. The backup ball-handlers in Tyler and James Johnson both had forgettable nights, and with all other options out injured, the team looked fairly lost when Dragic was having a break. Upon return from injury, Dion Waiters will more than likely handle the mantle of back up ball-handler/creator in order for the team to function efficiently when Dragic is out of the game.

The Heat returns home for some much needed rest before playing host to the New York Knicks. Game commences Tuesday 7:30 pm ET.