The Miami Heat were coming into Friday night’s game off the most tumultuous set of circumstances that they’ve faced all year long. Well, nothing has been as bad, you can say that.
In their last contest, losing to a Golden State team that didn’t have their three best players going for them, the Heat would see themselves battling themselves before it was all over with. It has been well documented and publicized at this point, so no need to go all the way back into that again.
What does need to be discussed is what happened to the Miami Heat in the fourth period of their latest defeat to the Knicks. Up big going into the period, it would spell disaster for Miami in the end.
The Miami Heat led by 17 in this quarter. Now a 97-94 deficit.
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) March 26, 2022
Outscoring New York, 88-73 heading into the fourth period, they would proceed to lose that period by a tally of 38 to 15, leading to a 111-103 defeat. Fueled by more penetration from the opposing teams quickest lead guard, following the trend set by Jordan Poole, Tyrese Maxey, and Shake Milton, Immanuel Quickley would propel the late Knicks run that would ultimately doom Miami.
The Miami Heat were, again, without Tyler Herro due to injury and though he was the victim in the defeat before the last one, his scoring certainly could have helped in this one.
The Miami Heat took their third straight defeat on Friday night. They can’t cry about it though, not with the Brooklyn Nets on tap for Saturday.
Max Strus wasn’t himself and hasn’t really been himself for three games now.
He was the victim of the opposing attack in this one, as the Knicks did all they could to get Quickley matched up on him in that last period. Gabe Vincent, who has missed the last three games, has really had his value displayed in his absence as well.
The guys that have been responsible for creating the damage for the Heat over that span are all guys that he would have had his fair share of time on, had he been active in the contests. There is one good takeaway from this one though.
After the blowup from the other night, Jimmy Butler responded. He dominated the first three periods of the game for Miami, sitting out for much of the late run, and only coming back after it was too late.
Some might say he should be able to carry them home there and there may be some merit to that, however, you can’t totally lay this one at his feet. The man got you 17, four, and six in the first half, while finishing the game with 30 and seven of each in the rebounds and assists category.
They all need to be better though, as a team. For starters and if they need an area of focus, it should be rebounding.
They would lose that battle, again, on Friday and to a nearly 10-widget tune of 43-35. They can’t keep being smashed on the glass and expect to win.
All isn’t over yet though. This is terrible, yes, the three-game skid, that is.
However, it isn’t doomsday yet, as has been stated a lot this year. They still have a ton of time to recalibrate, as adversity can be productive but that starts on Saturday, as they get right back to it against the other team from New York in the Brooklyn Nets.
This will, presumably, be the first time all year they face them with, both, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. That should be interesting—or traumatizing.