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On January 20, the Miami Heat suffered an ugly loss at the hands of Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks. Before dropping the game in Dallas, Miami had been winners of 13 of their last 19 games. The brutal loss to the Mavericks was just another example of the rollercoaster season the Heat have had.
After dismantling the Heat with 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists, Doncic had some words about his opponents’ defense.
“Their defense, I mean they’re one of the best defensive teams… They’re known for that and their physicality, so people are going to struggle against them,” he said.
Tyler Herro Shares Thoughts on Luka Doncic After Brutal Heat Loss
Following the frustrating loss, Miami’s Tyler Herro was asked about Doncic. He praised the Slovenian star, crediting his playmaking.
“He just did what he does every night. He makes plays,” Herro said via Bally Sports Sun: Heat. “He’s a great player, makes plays for himself and for his teammates, and makes the right play a lot of time and they ended up making shots.”
The 23-year-old wasn’t all that sharp against the Mavericks. He led Miami in turnovers with 4 and was a -9 in just under 30 minutes. However, it’s tough to put too much weight on plus/minus in a game where Miami lost by 25. Herro actually had the best plus/minus of all Heat starters. He also scored 16 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and dished out an assist in the loss.
On top of all of that it was his birthday. A 25-point loss probably wasn’t exactly what the team had in mind for Herro’s birthday present.
Eric Spoelstra Calls Heat Loss Against Mavericks a “Wasted Day”
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Miami Head Coach Eric Spoelstra didn’t love watching his team get blown out by 25 points.
He spoke to the media after the game and addressed the let down.
“There’s some days in this league you’re just not going to play well,” Spoelstra said via Bally Sports Sun: Heat. “There’s some days where you’re just going to get beat. There’s some days you’re just going to get beat convincingly, sometimes. What was disappointing about tonight is it was just a wasted day. We didn’t get better. We don’t have a lot of days to kick down the road like that.”
Spoelstra, the veteran coach that he is, clearly understands the highs and lows of the lengthy NBA season. However, as the Heat look to work their way up the standings over the next few months before the playoffs, he has good reason to be frustrated with his players.
The New York Knicks, who the Heat are jockeying with for the sixth seed, dropped their game to the Atlanta Hawks. A win against the Mavericks would’ve given Miami some much needed breathing room in the standings. Instead, Spoelstra’s team didn’t give themselves much of a chance, trailing by 15 or more points for the majority of the second half.
Miami’s next opportunity to make up ground in the standings will be when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans on January 22.
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