Right when it seems like the Miami Heat have started to pick up a slight rhythm, they put together an underwhelming performance. Heading into Sunday’s matchup with the Toronto Raptors being winners of four of their last five, Miami couldn’t get the job done to keep the momentum going.
The loss moved them back down to the Eastern Conference’s sixth seed at a 9-9 record. The Raptors had a 5-15 record prior to the game, but their own sluggish positioning in the standings didn’t stop them from disappointing the Heat. RJ Barrett’s game-high 37 points on 15 of 20 shooting made him virtually unstoppable offensively.
Scottie Barnes was also able to put him imprints all over the game, totaling 23 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists.
For Miami, they got into an early double-digit hole at the end of the 1st quarter, causing them to climb out of another tough start. They were able to make it competitive with a 29-21 fourth quarter advantage, but ultimately fell short. Let’s go over some standout Heat stats during the tough loss, including some good, bad and ugly.
The Good: Another elite Tyler Herro performance
Tyler Herro has played like a much deserved All-Star talent throughout this season. Even during games where the Heat look flat offensively, he continues to look sharp and put them in a position to win. Herro had a team-high 31 points on 9 of 16 shooting, including 6 of 12 from 3-point range.
The way he has adjusted his overall shot profile to include less midrange and more 3-pointers/drives to the rim has helped Herro be the best version of himself. The shooting efficiency and tough shot making was going all night in Toronto, including some clutch buckets down the stretch.
The Bad: Shooting efficiency from a pair of Heat starters
Speaking of efficiency, Bam Adebayo and Duncan Robinson struggled to shoot the ball in back-to-back outings. Adebayo has had a difficult time offensively this season, regardless of all the other aspects of the game he displays at a high-level. The big man flirted with another triple double, totaling 13 points, 20 rebounds and 7 assists.
However, he went just 5 of 13 from the field, and continued to miss some good looks that he usually knocks down. Adebayo is averaging the lowest amount of points since his sophomore season back in the 2018-19 season, along with a career-low field goal percentage.
Robinson also couldn’t get his shot to fall, adding just 8 points on a rough 3 of 12 shooting and committing 4 turnovers. Since his season-high 22 point outing last week, he’s shot just 7 of 23 overall in the following two games.
The Ugly: Points in the paint disparity
Toronto’s physicality exposed the Heat’s glaring size problem once again, scoring 20+ more points in the paint than Miami. The two bigs in Adebayo and Kevin Love combined to shoot 6 of 18– good for 33%. The team wasn’t able to get much offensively from that duo in the depth chart, as they were outscored by 17 points in Love’s 10 minutes off the bench.
It was clear that the Raptor’s positional length affected Miami’s ability to score inside. Coach Erik Spoelstra has put emphasis on 3-point volume all season long, but it is crucial to show more balance between both inside and outside scoring abilities. The Heat rank 25th overall in paint buckets this season throughout the league, and the lack of two-way size amongst the rotation hasn’t helped that matter.