MIAMI — The Miami Heat had been here before, when the opposition basically tried to hand a game away.
That was in November, when the Cleveland Cavaliers sat out Donovan Michell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley.
On that night, the Cavaliers nonetheless found their way to victory behind the unlikely likes of Craig Porter Jr., Tyrese Proctor, Luke Travers, and, yes, former Heat center Thomas Bryant.
This time, the Chicago Bulls felt it prudent Saturday night to hold out Josh Giddey, Coby White, Nikola Vucevic and Jalen Smith among others.
And again backups, two-way players and unknowns found a way against Erik Spoelstra’s team, with the Heat falling 125-118 Saturday night at Kaseya Center.
This time the loss came against a team that at one stage fielded a lineup of Yuki Kawamura, Jevon Carter, Julian Phillips, Dalen Terry, Lachlan Olbrich.
That humbling.
That sobering.
“It was hard to get traction,” Spoelstra said of the game played at a frenetic pace with unfamiliar faces. ”
For their part, the Heat were without Norman Powell (personal reasons), Tyler Herro (ribs) and Davion Mitchell (shoulder).
But no excuses, not in this one, even with the Heat getting 21 points and 11 rebounds from Bam Adebayo, not with the Heat committing 19 turnovers and shooting 13 of 47 on 3-pointers.
“It’s not about talent,” Adebayo said, “it’s about who wants to do the little things, the 50-50 balls, crashing the glass, getting the extra possessions. They did the little things.”
The teams meet again Sunday at Kaseya Center.
“We got another one tomorrow,” Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. said. “So we got an opportunity to correct these mistakes and be better from it and learn.”
Five Degrees of Heat from Saturday night’s game:
1. Game flow: The Heat trailed 31-26 at the end of the opening period, then moving to a 63-56 halftime lead, before the Bulls took a 91-84 lead into the fourth, with the Heat yet again coming apart in a third quarter.
From there, the Bulls went up nine early in the fourth, before the Heat finally found their legs to tie it 106-106 with 3:37 to play.
Later, an Andrew Wiggins 3-pointer tied it 116-116. It could have been a four-point play, but he missed the ensuing free throw with 1:20 to play.
Five straight Bulls points followed, leaving the Heat down 121-116 with 39.1 seconds to play, effectively ending it.
“They hit some shots they had to hit,” Heat forward Pelle Larsson said. “I don’t want to say we got complacent, but we’ve got to do a better job of sustaining.”
2. And another one: With Powell, Herro and Mitchell out, the Heat moved to their 15th lineup in their 50th game.
This time it was two-way player Myron Gardner with his first NBA start, in a lineup that also included Adebayo, Wiggins, Larsson and Kasparas Jakucionis.
It was the 29th start for Larsson and eighth for Jakucionis.
Gardner played as an energetic pest throughout, something the Heat needed amid a lethargic performance, closing with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
“I love the way he competes,” Spoelstra said. “It’s not easy being thrown in that situation.”
3. A rough start: Not only did Adebayo open 1 of 8 from the field, including 0 for 4 on 3-pointers, but then well after draining a fourth-quarter 3-pointer, that basket was overturned during an ensuing timeout, when it the NBA’s Replay Center ruled he had stepped out of bounds, dropping him to 0 for 5 from the arc.
He came around with his first 3-point conversion with 7:36 to play, seizing his moments in the fourth quarter.
The initial struggles came in the wake of breakout play by Adebayo, who had scored 20 or more in his previous six games, as the reigning NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week.
He closed 7 of 18 from the field, including 1 of 8 on 3-pointers.
“The game within the game,” Adebayo said of the Bulls prioritizing double-teams against him.
4. Where’s Ware?: It was another night when second-year Heat center Kel’el Ware stood as an afterthought in Spoelstra’s rotation, this time with just 3:11 of action, despite initially playing ahead of struggling Nikola Jovic in the rotation.
After being victimized by a pair of Bulls blow-bys in his initial stint, there was no additional stint, with Jovic instead moved up when Adebayo went out.
“This is not an indictment on Kel’el,” Spoelstra said. “This game was so fast. They were playing small forwards at center. The advantage was the speed and the quickness and all that, in my opinion. It was just not a typical game.
“That had nothing to do with Kel’el.”
Ware closed 1 of 2 from the field, with two points and one rebound.
“I mean, I can’t control it,” Ware said of Spoelstra’s decision. “I mean, it is what it is. I mean, whatever he feels like that he perceives or feels like playing, I mean, like I said, it is what it is.”
5. Jaquez again: It was the bench unit that finally got the Heat going, with Jaquez up to 14 points by the intermission. He then slowed from there.
For Jaquez it was a follow-up to his 19-point performance on Thursday night in Chicago, including a late 3-pointer.
This time he closed with 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds.