Miami Heat Outshot, 28-68, From Free Throw Line In Games 3 And 4

The Miami Heat were poor in Game 4. They were terrible.

They couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. Nobody was good.

Bam Adebayo couldn’t find the same rhythm that he found in Game 3. Kyle Lowry struggled to penetrate or get enough separation to get his jumper off.

Jimmy Butler couldn’t get anything to go. Though he hit a few tough ones, he missed a ton of shots that he can usually get to go down.

Heck, P.J. Tucker nor Max Strus even scored a basket. That’s just the starting five, but the entire team had a terrible Game 4 showing.

All of that is true. However, that doesn’t mean that this fact can exist alone.

While a lot of things are perception-based, qualitative, or up for interpretation, such as the raw act or art of officiating a basketball game, there are some things that are certain, factual, and quantitative. You can’t explain a free throw disparity of 28 to 68 across two games.

There is no way to do logically do so.

The Miami Heat got destroyed in Boston in Game 4 on Monday night. Their offense let them down, but the disparity in officiating is disturbing too.

That’s 40 potential points. Jimmy Butler might tell you that the Miami Heat settled too much and that includes him.

He might even tell you that they need to “to be the more forceful team” and “not shy away from contact”. Bam Adebayo might tell you that they just sent them to the line “a lot”.

And all of that can be true. The purest or most sensible explanation given to it all had to come from the guy who was the Miami Heat’s best offensive player in Game 4 though.

That would be Victor Oladipo.Here is what he had to say.

The part that really sticks out is the part about selling it more. Clearly, the Miami Heat aren’t doing enough to draw the type of attention needed or the favor of the whistle.

Well, they aren’t doing as much as the opposition. This might not be the answer either, but what it points to is this.

There is a major discrepancy in the way that this thing is being officiated. You should either call everything or call nothing while doing the same thing on both ends of the floor.

That just didn’t seem to be the case in, either, Game 3 or 4, though Miami Heat were able to pull Game 3 out. It got so close at the end of that one, again, due to the flagrant one-sidedness of the whistles though.

The Miami Heat are now in what seems like a must-win situation on Wednesday night, as going back to Boston seems like another game where they’ll have to play “5 on 8”. Though they have proven they can win there, you don’t want your season on the line with what you’ve seen in these last two games.

That’s for sure.