The Miami Heat lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 130-120 on Sunday night. The Heat fell behind huge, before clawing back and making it a four-point game with seven minutes to play.
But in the end, what ailed the Heat and prevented Miami from getting over the finish line was the simple fact that its two best shooters, Tyler Herro and Norman Powell, are hurt. And while Erik Spoelstra is pushing buttons and trying to manufacture points the best he can, it's clear Miami is going to be limited until Herro and Powell come back.
Miami needs its two best shooters back
Miami actually outscored the Lakers in the paint, and fastbreak points were also basically even. But what let the Heat down, especially down the stretch, was the lack of three-point shooting.
Miami was just 9 for 33 from deep, and Simone Fontecchio was the only Heat player to make more than one from deep. Bam Adebayo and Nikola Jović were one for five, and Andrew Wiggins was one for six from deep.
The problem is that while all three of those guys are capable of hitting shots here and there, it's the same problem that showed up in the loss against the Spurs:
Plan A shouldn't be Adebayo and Wiggins carrying the load from range.
But because Powell continues to nurse a groin injury and Herro is still recovering from his foot injury, there just aren't other great options on the roster down the stretch.
Five minute drought dooms Miami
Jovic made his lone three with 8:03 to play to make it 111-107 in favor of Los Angeles. From there, Fontecchio missed a three, Jovic missed a three, Davion Mitchell made a layup, Fontecchio missed another three, Jovic made a free throw, Mitchell missed two free throws, Wiggins missed back-to-back shots, and Adebayo missed a three.
So when Pelle Larsson made a floater with 2:36 left, the deficit had ballooned to 122-112. If you are keeping score at home, from 8:00 to 3:00 in the fourth quarter, Miami scored three points.
So the silver lining from this loss is that Miami is still capable of scoring 120 points without its two best shooters on the court, and once this team gets healthy, this offense looks like it will be far more dangerous this season.
But until those shooters come back, it's going to be more mixing and matching from Miami, just hoping to hold the fort down.