In just over a week, it will be all about a forward-thinking approach, the NBA playoffs ultimately to define the Miami Heat’s season.
And yet, as was the case a year ago, there have been defining moments along the way that (in)distinguish the road traveled and playoff seeding.
Last season, a bad April 23 loss to an Atlanta Hawks team lacking sidelined Trae Young and Clint Capela left the Heat as the No. 6 seed in the East and a first-round 4-0 sweep victim at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks. Win that game in Atlanta and the Heat would have been the No. 4 seed and hosted the happy-to-be-there New York Knicks in the first round, a team the Hawks eliminated in five games.
So what might be lamented this time around after the April 10 close of the regular season?
A season featuring mostly victories again has had its moments that created pause . . . moments that leave Erik Spoelstra’s team no option but to fight to the finish of the regular season.
What shouldn’t be lost is how, through it all, the Heat fought their way to the top. With the NBA, in its humbling way, dropping moments of humility along the way
Nov. 10-11, Staples submission: It nearly was the best of Southern California dreaming.
Nearly.
Instead, a 120-117 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, when a nine-point lead with 6:54 left in the fourth quarter evaporated, then, the following night back at Staples Center, a 112-109 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, when an early 17-point lead was squandered.
The loss to the Lakers came with LeBron James out. The loss to the Clippers came with no Kawhi Leonard.
Dec. 19, end of the road in Detroit: An odd weeklong road trip that went from Cleveland to Philadelphia to Orlando to Detroit ended for the Heat with the Pistons snapping a 14-game losing streak with a 100-90 victory.
To be fair, the Heat played in the absences of Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, with P.J. Tucker lost in the third period with a knee injury.
But, still, it was a loss that allowed the Pistons to improve to 5-24.
Jan. 2, Sacramento skid: Up seven early in the fourth quarter, the Heat fouled De’Aaron Fox in a 113-113 tie with 6.2 seconds to play, with the Heat nemesis converting both free throws to close out the scoring.
The game ended with Butler off with a driving floater, when a stronger take could at least have produced free throws.
Jan. 21, alley oops in Atlanta: Down 16 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Heat fought all the way back only to see Butler botch a perfectly thrown alley-oop pass from Adebayo that could have tied it late.
“That was the play,” Adebayo said, “We got a great look. Just short.”
Jan. 29, triple Toronto torment: The Heat had opportunities to win at the ends of the regulation, the first overtime and the second overtime, before succumbing 124-120 in triple-overtime to the visiting Raptors.
At the end of regulation, Butler was unable to get a shot off an inbounds play with 2.9 seconds remaining. At the end of the first overtime, a Butler turnover left it tied. And then, at the end of the second overtime, guard Gabe Vincent drained a 3-point heave only to have the basket nullified by a timeout from coach Heat coach Erik Spoelstra with 1.7 seconds remaining.
March 2, Milwaukee meltdown: Up 14 with 7:12 to play, and then ahead by four with 44.7 seconds left, the Heat melted at the finish in a staggering a 120-119 loss at Fiserv Forum that prevented clinching the head-to-head tiebreaker, in a season series that instead ended at 2-2.
With 13.5 seconds to play, Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton converted a transition 3-pointer after a Herro turnover, to pull the Bucks within 119-118. Then, with 9.9 seconds to play, the Heat twice were unable to inbound from midcourt up one, leading to a jump ball that Giannis Antetokounmpo won from Butler. Off that play, the Bucks’ Jrue Holiday scored a driving layup with 1.9 seconds left to close out the scoring.
March 21, Philadelphia skid row: Another defeat that cost the Heat an opportunity to clinch a head-to-head season-series tiebreaker, this one also closing 2-2, with a 113-106 loss to an opponent lacking Joel Embiid and James Harden.
The Heat led with 7:06 to play, but still could not close it out.
From there, the Heat would lose their next three, including home losses to a Golden State Warriors team minus Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, and the Knicks playing in the absence of Julius Randle.
All of that said, the No. 1 seed still is there for the taking. But like a year ago, ones that got away likely will take the Heat’s seeding race down to closing night.
IN THE LANE
NUNN SENSE: Whether it was COVID at the end of his first NBA season, losing his starting position in the playoffs at the end of his second, or having his qualifying offer pulled last summer, endings have never been easy for former Heat guard Kendrick Nunn. Neither has his start with the Lakers, a start that never came, with Nunn now winding up missing his entire first season in Los Angeles due to a bone bruise in his knee, after multiple setbacks. Signed with the Lakers’ maximum exception money last summer, Nunn stood fifth on the team’s payroll, now left to decide on his $5.3 million player option for next season. “I think there have been some improvements,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said, “but not enough to see him back in practice.” The last appearance by Nunn was May 29, when he scored 18 points off the bench for the Heat in Game 4 of the Heat’s opening-round playoff sweep last year at the hands of the Bucks.
LASTING IMPRESSION: It was one thing to walk out of TD Garden with a victory over the surging Boston Celtics. It was even more impressive what the Heat left their wake from Wednesday night’s 106-98 decision. “Our guys probably haven’t faced anything like that in a while,” forward Al Horford said of the force offered by the Heat. “Now we’ve seen it. We know what it’s like. Usually, we’re the team that’s enforcing.” Or, as Celtics coach Ime Udoka said, “This was a good test playoff-wise. This is what it’s going to be like coming up in a few weeks here.”
AS GOOD AS IT GETS: At 38, former Heat forward Andre Iguodala makes little pretense about where he stands in his career, back for the Golden State Warriors this past week after missing seven weeks due to back issue. “But I think I said this before,” Iguodala said, “the games have been dumbed down so much that a lower percentage of me is still, I guess, pretty good in today’s game.” Especially, he said, amid the Warriors’ recent defensive slide. “We don’t get mad anymore when someone scores on us,” said the veteran forward who left the Heat last summer in free agency.
LEARNING CURVE: Yes, Heat 2020 first-round pick Precious Achiuwa still can be erratic with his play. But the key, Toronto coach Nick Nurse said, is Achiuwa is becoming less erratic as he moves through his first season with the Raptors. “I think that’s all directly related to confidence, which is showing in quicker decision-making,” Nurse said of the big man obtained from the Heat in the August sign-and-trade transaction for Kyle Lowry. “I think we all go back and think about [times] he’d get it and we were never really sure what he was going to do.” Nurse added, “He’s building a level of confidence that he could be an impactful player on this team.”
HOOPS AS LIFE: So what did Jim Larrañaga do a day after his Hurricanes were eliminated in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament by Kansas in Chicago? Take in Heat-Kings at FTX Arena. “What an absolute basketball junkie. I love him,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I absolutely love him, not to go on vacation, not to think about anything else, go on a recruiting trip, but to enjoy a basketball game. That’s a guy I can relate to. I like Coach L. I wish I could spend more time with him.”
NUMBER
11. Times the Heat have made the playoffs in Erik Spoelstra’s 14 seasons as coach. The berth clinched this past week also makes it the 21st time the team has made the postseason in Pat Riley’s 27 years of franchise stewardship.
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