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What has been a rollercoaster season for the Miami Heat, continued to be that way when they took on the Dallas Mavericks on January 20. Winners of 13 of their previous 19 games, the Heat headed into the matchup riding high. Unfortunately for them, they left feeling pretty low after getting blown out by Luka Doncic and the Mavs 115-90.
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. “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.”
Herro wasn’t all that sharp in Dallas. He led the Heat with 4 turnovers 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. The 23-year-old 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 Slams Heat, Calls Mavericks Loss a ‘Wasted Day’
As any coach would be after watching his team be blown out by 25, Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra was frustrated following the loss in Dallas. 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. “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.”
Having been in his position for as long as he has, Spoelstra clearly understands the ups and downs of the long season. However, as Miami looks to climb the standings before the playoffs roll around in a few months, he has reason to be upset with his squad.
The New York Knicks, who the Heat are jockeying with for the sixth seed, lost 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.
Zach Collins, Doug McDermott Listed as Potential Heat Trade Targets
As Miami continues to try and string together good basketball, it becomes more and more apparent that the team could use some extra shooting. In the loss to the Mavs, the Heat made just 4 of their 20 attempts from beyond the arc.
For the season Miami ranks 26th in 3-point percentage, shooting just 33.7 percent. That’s quite the drop off from last year, when they shot a league-best 37.9% from downtown.
In a January 19 article for the Miami Herald, Barry Jackson pitched a pair of sharpshooters from the San Antonio Spurs as potential trade targets for the Heat.
Zach Collins and Doug McDermott have been reliable from 3-point land this season. Collins has shot 37% from deep and McDermott has shot 41%.
Neither player makes an astronomical amount of money either. McDermott is owed $13.7 million next season in the final year of his contract, and Collins’ deal includes a $7.7 million team option.
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