Miami Heat: What went wrong against the Houston Rockets?
By Ivan Mora
The Miami Heat continue their losing streak, after falling short to the Houston Rockets.
In what has become a customary image in this past week, the Miami Heat have racked up another loss, dropping five straight. After last night’s loss to the Houston Rockets, they are coming off a 3-7 record in their last 10 games, with no signs of life.
The Rockets continued their opposite streak, by racking up their sixth straight victory and 10 out of their last 11 games.
Now in Miami’s defense, they were playing against the second best offensive rated team in the league; the Rockets have a112.9 rating, only trailing the Golden State Warriors. Still, there hasn’t been much optimism coming out of the Heat locker room, after uninspired play late in games and disastrous rotations down the stretch.
Both Goran Dragic and Josh Richardson led the way with 30 points a piece, after yet another injury strike left both Kelly Olynyk (left shoulder strain) and Wayne Ellington (right shoulder strain) out for the first time this season. Miami, for lack of a better term, just simply can not catch a break.
The Rockets on the other hand, saw James Harden go off on a 41 point night. He finished with a very productive (yet for him, modest) statline shooting, 13 of 25 from the field, going 5 of 12 from 3, and hitting 10 of 12 free throws. He also had six assists and rebounds. This was the eighth time this season Harden breaks the 40-point barrier.
Miami has been struggling lately from behind the arc, now down to 38 percent after hitting over 42 percent during their win streak. Injuries are also constantly forcing head coach Erik Spoelstra to experiment with lineups, that just can’t keep up defensively. They were outrebounded 36-31 last night and are constantly missing out on second chance opportunities.
Just an ugly combination for the Heat.
Chris Paul also found his groove late in the game, and finished with 24 points, seven assists and rebounds for the night. Both Paul and Harden were just too much to handle for the Heat.
Miami is now sitting in the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference, riding a disappointing losing streak.
They have three games left before a much needed All-Star break, with the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, and Philadelphia 76ers. They’re going to need some form of consistency, whether offensively or defensively, in order to regain control or momentum.
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If not, expect that drop to continue post All-Star break.