In a, 104-113, Miami Heat loss to Minnesota on Saturday, a nightmare second-half performance would cost them a winning opportunity. While the Timberwolves did deserve credit for defending with their length and pushing the offensive tempo, the Heat had a number of opportunities to secure the win at FTX Arena.
And while they couldn’t, the inability to close games continued for Miami in defeat. To make matters worse, the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference committed 12 turnovers, while being held to a 34 percent field goal percentage in the final half of play.
Those discrepancies will put any team in a position to lose and the very first glance of the Heat’s loss to Minnesota has to be focused on their starting point guard, Kyle Lowry. It’s worth noting as well, this was just his fourth game after returning from an absence due to personal reasons.
The Heat were well aware that without Jimmy Butler, their leading scorer and lone All-Star player of this season, their ability to wear teams down and get to the free-throw line would be limited. However, a larger scoring demand was needed from Lowry, a 15-year veteran and more notably, one of the league’s premier on-court coaches.