The Miami Heat have lost 15 of their last 18 postseason games. Outscored by an average of 19 points in those setbacks.
3-15.
Most of those games were not even competitive. And at a time when teams are judged for their mettle and ability to perform on the biggest stage.
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What’s bizarre about that stat is that it includes the final nine games of the 2023 playoffs when Miami reached the NBA Finals.
How far away does that seem now?
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Apr 28, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (center) looks on from the bench against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the fourth quarter during game four for the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
The Heat are at a crucial crossroads after being humiliated, embarrassed, taken to the woodshed (we could go on) by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the most lopsided series in NBA playoff history. Miami was outscored by 122 points in the first round four-game sweep.
A beat down that was somewhat predictable after the Cavs were 27 games better than the Heat during the regular season. Cleveland could have lost all 34 games in February, March and April and still finished ahead of Miami.
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But this … this was a time-to-reevaluate-everything level of embarrassing.
“I try not to ever use the word quit or choke, I very seldom use them,” Charles Barkley said on “Inside the NBA.”
“This is quitting at its finest right here.”
Heat reach all-time low in Pat Riley era
The Heat are in a rare spot since Pat Riley faxed (google it, kids) his resignation to the New York Knicks in the summer of 1995. Soon after, he was introduced as the Heat’s president and coach aboard a cruise liner named Imagination and in a lounge called Dynasty.
Guarantee you no one imagined Miami one day would lose back-to-back home playoff games by 37 and 55 points.
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The Cleveland series represents the lowest point of Riley’s Miami tenure that has brought us three championships and seven trips to the NBA Finals. Nowhere in the Heat Culture handbook will you find the word “quit.”
Lower than the 15-win 2007-08 season, which at least was part of a plan. Miami was in the early stages of clearing cap space to make a run at LeBron James and whoever else followed in the summer of 2010. All that turned into was the Big Three era of Dwyane Wade, James and Chris Bosh. And two titles.
Lower than the 25-win 2002-03 season that allowed Miami to draft Wade, then one year later trade three core pieces to the Lakers for Shaquille O’Neal, leading to Miami’s first championship.
Those teams were bad. The Heat, and everyone else, knew it. But Miami had a vision both times and both times it was executed to perfection.
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And three straight series losses to the Knicks beginning in 1998, all decided in Miami in the decisive game, were frustrating. But those were competitive, hard-fought, intense series between two bitter rivals that were must-see television.
Right now, the Heat’s plan is unclear. It certainly isn’t this. It isn’t surrounding Bam Adebayo with one capable scorer and also asking him to atone for everyone else’s defensive deficiencies.
Adebayo clearly took a step back this season, yet he still remains closest to an untouchable on this roster. But, really, should anyone be untouchable after what we just witnessed?
Bam has proven he can be a 20-10 guy when it comes to points and rebounds and he’s an elite defender, one of the few players in the league who can guard 1 through 5.
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Otherwise … if Tyler Herro is your second-best player, you are not a team that will contend.
Herro can score. That is his strength. And he should be given credit for improving his game year over year resulting in his first All-Star nod this season. But the Cavs exposed Herro defensively, which is a huge problem for Miami going forward, if Herro is even on this team going forward.
The playoffs are when the best teams are at their best when it comes to uncovering the opponents’ weaknesses. And Herro forever will be a liability on defense. While the Heat certainly have been able to overcome others’ defensive deficiencies in the past, it takes a defensive-minded team to pull that off.
Miami just allowed Cleveland to scored 126 points per game while shooting 52 percent in the four-game slaughter.
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“These last two games were embarrassing,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said after his team scored the final five points of Game 4 to avoid losing by 60 points, which would have been an NBA playoff record.
“We were as irrational as we usually are, thinking that we have a chance to win the series and they showed us why we weren’t ready for that.”
Pat Riley on the clock to fix the Miami Heat
MIAMI, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 09: Pat Riley speaks to media at Kaseya Center on February 09, 2025 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Riley now has to prove he has not lost his fastball and the Jimmy Butler debacle was a blip. He just turned 80 and does not appear ready to turn the franchise over to Spoelstra just yet.
Patience will be required. This is not the NBA of a decade or so ago when teams could count on franchise-altering players to hit in free agency. Star players are either extended (like Butler after being dealt from the Heat to the Warriors) or traded (like Luca Doncic who went from the Mavs to the Lakers) before reaching free agency. The biggest names last summer to switch teams were fading stars Klay Thompson and Paul George.
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No, thank you.
The primary way to acquire a star player nowadays is through a trade. And that makes reshaping your roster much more tricky, especially with cap restrictions.
No potential free agents this summer would dramatically change the Heat. Kevin Durant, and his $54.7 million salary, is available in a trade. Hold your laughter.
Adebayo was asked after Game 4 of the Cavs series what changes he would like to see.
“That’s more of a Pat Riley question,” he said. “And I hope you can ask that question to him and he doesn’t blow you off and ignore you. He knows my mentality.”
One name could help with the reboot. The Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo appear headed for a divorce after a marriage that landed one Larry O’Brien Trophy four years ago but first-round exits from the playoffs each of the last three years.
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The Heat are not dealing from a position of strength on this one, figuring if Milwaukee tears it down the focus will be acquiring draft picks, which Miami has little to offer. At the moment, Miami has one tradeable first-round pick until 2030: this year’s, No. 20 overall, it acquired from Golden State for Butler.
Miami also could part with one of its two biggest assets, Adebayo or Herro. Maybe a young player or two the Bucks might want to try to develop.
Is that enough for a 30-year-old, two-time MVP who is considered one of the top three players in the league? Especially when the competition is, oh, about 90 percent of the league?
Probably not.
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For Riley, this undoubtedly will be his last attempt at bringing the Heat a fourth banner …
And his most challenging.
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Heat embarrassed by Cavaliers in NBA Playoffs. What’s next?