Getty Guard-forward Max Strus is interviewed during Miami Heat Media Day 2022.
If, before the campaign, some Nostradamus-like figure had informed Miami Heat fans that their team would be in roughly the same spot as the defending champion Golden State Warriors after 18 games, they probably would have rejoiced. Especially after Pat Riley had such an uneventful offseason.
Like the Dubs, though, Jimmy Butler and his crew have shockingly plummeted to the bottom third of the conference table. Their latest loss — to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night — made it four-straight setbacks for the scuffling club with another difficult four-game roadie on the horizon.
Worse yet, the Heat might have been in a position to beat the T-Wolves if not for an errant Max Strus foul down the stretch.
With four seconds left on Minnesota’s shot clock, 9.2 seconds remaining in the game and the Heat trailing by just two points, a defensive stop would have left Miami with at least five seconds to get up a potential game-tying/winning shot.
Instead, Strus intentionally fouled Rudy Gobert, who subsequently nailed two free throws and put the game out of reach for good at 105-101. And his explanation after the contest did little to pacify Heat Nation’s rage at the misstep.
Spoelstra & Strus Break Down the Play
Asked about the play during his post-game media availability, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra weirdly questioned the whistle. More importantly, though — and to the surprise of no one — he revealed that there was no directive from him to put Gobert on the free-throw line.
“One, I don’t know if it was a foul. It didn’t look like it was intentional,” Spoelstra said, via the Sun Sentinel. “It looked like they were going to be jammed up, five seconds on the clock. We likely would have had five seconds at the end. I don’t know.”
Strus, meanwhile, all but confirmed his lapse in decision-making on the play.
“Historically, he’s not a great free-throw shooter,” Strus said of Gobert, again via Sun Sentinel. “I thought it was a good chance to put him on the line and hopefully miss one. But I guess it was a stupid play.”
Turns out, the internet agrees with him.
“So with a 5-second difference on the shot clock, the Heat run it all the way down and then Max Strus decides to foul?” decried the folks over at Heat Nation. “Huh??”
“Y’all won’t slander him but I will,” a fan declared. “Max Strus has been downright awful tonight.”
Of course, Strus’ struggles went well beyond one ill-advised foul down the stretch.
Strus Was Historically Bad From the Field
In a team-high 40 minutes on the court, Strus contributed 19 points, six boards, two assists and a steal for the Heat. While that’s a solid line in and of itself, it becomes significantly worse when one considers that the 26-year-old was just 7-of-23 from the field (and 4-of-15 from deep).
That’s not just an off night — it’s one of the worst shooting nights on that kind of volume in Heat history.
Dating back to the team’s 1988 inception, there have only been 15 other instances of players making seven or less shots on 23-plus attempts. It last happened during a double-overtime win over the Charlotte Hornets in February. In that game, however, the offender — Jimmy Butler — was able to contribute 10 boards, eight assists, two blocks and a steal in addition to his 15 points. And the Heat outscored the Hornets by 23 when he was on the court.
For his part, Strus was minus-six against Minnesota.