The Miami Heat were unable to secure a win in Dallas, dropping the second of their last three games. (Photo via Miami Heat/X)

Despite facing a 12th seed and struggling 7-15 Dallas Mavericks squad heading into the night, the Miami Heat were defeated with a final score of 118-108 on the road. After going on a six-game winning streak, Miami has now lost two of their last three games and have dropped to a 14-8 record overall.

Norman Powell was sidelined for this one due to an ankle sprain, and his efficient scoring was missed in a night where Miami shot just 40% from the field. They also tied their season-low in pace on the night— it was one of the slowest games this year for a Heat offense that is ranked top-three in points per game and first in pace.

Tyler Herro attempted to keep the offense afloat early on, totaling 21 points in the first half on 10 of 14 shooting. The problem? He scored a whopping zero points in the second half.

The Mavericks defense started to blitz Herro following halftime, essentially removing him from the game similar to the Cleveland Cavaliers strategy last postseason. And with Powell being out, there was no backup plan to get easy offense going. Miami attempted to run some offense through Andrew Wiggins, although Wiggins put up one of his worst performances of the year.

He shot a rough 4 of 18 from the field, finishing with just 11 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware each played well for Miami, but oddly enough, both only played under 30 minutes. There wasn’t nearly enough Adebayo-Ware frontcourt duo minutes together, as Ware remained in a bench role in favor of Pelle Larsson. Adebayo dropped 21 points and 7 rebounds on over 50% shooting in 28 minutes. Ware bounced back from a quiet outing in the Heat’s previous game with a dominant 22/10 double-double on a near-perfect 8 of 11 from the field. He was also 4 of 5 from 3-point range, and added one block and one steal.

In even more concerning news, Nikola Jovic remained disappointing in his opportunities off the bench. The Mavs outscored Miami by 8 points in his minutes, and he had zero points with essentially no impact at all before coach Erik Spoelstra took him out for the rest of the night after just six minutes of play. Jovic has looked lost and unplayable this season, despite being viewed as a potential X-factor after securing a four-year contract extension with the Heat before the start of the season.

Dallas had seven players score in double-digits, going 51% from the field and 50% from deep overall as a team. They were led by Cooper Flagg’s 22 points on route to their upset victory.

Miami will aim to pick up another bounce back win Friday night in Orlando versus the Magic.

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