The Home Stretch
The Heat went down gallantly Sunday to the Indiana Pacers, on the second night of a back-to-back. Without the services of point guard Goran Dragic due to swelling in his right eye, the Heat fell 102-98. Despite outscoring the Pacers’ bench 39-26, the Heat received just 13 points on 4-of-14 shooting between starters Rodney McGruder, Luke Babbitt and Josh Richardson.
However, when the Heat’s leading scorer is unavailable, other starters needed to step up to the plate. And that didn’t happen. This leaves the Heat with a 32-35 record, tied with the Chicago Bulls and just half a game behind the eighth seeded Milwaukee Bucks.
With their next game not until Wednesday, which kicks off a 5-game home stand, the Heat should be fully refreshed as they embark on the final 15 games of the season.
With 80 percent of the season behind them and an increased comfort level evident in their recent play, head coach Erik Spoelstra and his staff will enter this final stretch confident in the fact that they have found the lineups which they feel gives the best opportunity to succeed.
And one of the keys to executing a successful run home could lie within his recent quote from Spoelstra:
"“That’s what we’ve been trying to establish, the ball movement. Our guys executing details, getting our attackers in the paint, working a good shot to a great shot.”"
With their next four opponents at home all Western Conference teams with sub-500 records, the Heat will only have themselves to blame if they don’t capitalise on the opportunity in front of them.