The Miami Heat struggled on the second night of a back-to-back, losing to the Atlanta Hawks 103-95.
1. The injury bug continues to hurt Miami
Playing in their second game in two nights, the Heat looked flat from the opening tip. The fact that they had to travel from Miami to Atlanta late last night is at least partially to blame. However, the bigger issue continues to be injuries.
The Heat were again without five players due to different ailments, and none of them are all that close to coming back. Coach Erik Spoelstra said that the group, which includes Justise Winslow, Josh Richardson, Dion Waiters, Luke Babbitt and James Johnson, would not play until at least next week.
So basically, the Heat would need near perfect nights from their remaining nine players. Some of them were up to the task and others, well… were not.
2. The Heat’s starting frontcourt struggled mightily
For Miami to have a chance on any given night this season, they need Hassan Whiteside to play up to his full potential. And tonight, he didn’t. Eight points on 4-for-12 shooting, five fouls, and four turnovers just won’t cut it. He did manage to bring down 12 rebounds, but the Heat need more from their highly-paid center.
Making matters worse, the player Whiteside was guarding most of the night had one of his best games of the year. Dwight Howard looked like the 2009 version of himself. We’ll take a closer at his performance in a bit.
Unfortunately, Whiteside wasn’t the only starter who played poorly. His frontcourt partner, Josh McRoberts, posted one of his worst performances in a Heat jersey. The night started off well for the power forward, as he displayed his skill and athleticism early:
Alas, those would be the only points he would score all night. He played thirty minutes, made one of his five shot attempts, only brought down two rebounds, and turned the ball over five times. An abysmal display any way you look at it.
3. It wasn’t all bad!
Miami’s starting backcourt performed admirably tonight. Goran Dragic had 21 points and four assists while Wayne Ellington had 19 and poured in four three-pointers.
The star of the night, however, was Tyler Johnson. The Heat’s sixth man dropped 27 points, had five assists, a block and a steal. He was able to draw fouls, made seven of eight free throws, and went 4-for-5 from three-point range. It’s the exact kind of performance Pat Riley envisioned when Miami matched Brooklyn’s huge offer sheet to Johnson. Even the NBA’s official twitter account took notice:
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/806677547970920448
I hope no one thinks of Johnson as just a shooter though. He’s also very capable of throwing one down on you:
https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/806689459114807296
Great performance by Johnson all around. It was encouraging to see him bounce back after shooting 31 percent from the floor in his previous three games.
4. The plus/minus stat is broken
Although the metric is fairly popular among NBA writers and fans, it may be time we retire it. My reasoning? Derrick Williams.
Tonight, Williams had a poor performance, by anyone’s standards. He went 1-for-5, scored three points in 20 minutes, and also turned the ball over three times. Further, he got abused on defense by just about anyone he guarded. Yet somehow, Williams still led the Heat with a plus/minus of plus-14. I mean… what? Gonna have to explain that one to me, plus/minus creators.
5. Dwight Howard had a throwback game
The Hawks mercurial center played one of his better games of the year, scoring 23 points on 9-for-11 shooting, to go with 17 rebounds and four assists. Just for good measure, he also made five of his six attempts from the free throw line. Maybe Howard saw this as a statement game after the Heat were rumored to be interested in his services last season, before ultimately re-signing Whiteside.
I’m saddened to report that the road does not get any easier for Miami. Their next game is on Friday, on the road against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. It tips off at 7:30.
Without half the roster, playing on the road, and against the reigning champs no less? Should be fun! Perhaps it’s time we embrace the tank, Heat nation.