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Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is relying on the wrong players at the wrong time. (Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)<\/p>\nMiami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is relying on the wrong players at the wrong time. (Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
The Miami Heat\u2019s most recent loss to the Boston Celtics felt like an all-too-common occurrence.<\/p>\n
Miami surrendered 147 points, their second time allowing 147 or more over the last week, on 58.3 percent shooting with 21 made Celtic threes. Once prided on its defensive fortitude, the Heat displayed an episodic collapse on that end of the floor, loosely defending the 3-point line and looking hopeless against a well-spaced Celtics attack.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve lost their identity, evidently leading to everything else crumbling at the worst time of the season. At this point, we know where the Heat are destined \u2014 and that\u2019s to their fourth-straight play-in.<\/p>\n
It would be one thing if head coach Erik Spoelstra was relying on the team\u2019s youth and they were failing. But he\u2019s not. In fact, he\u2019s treading in the opposite direction, shrinking his rotation to seven players as the regular season winds down.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s not the way this cataclysmic finish should be managed.<\/p>\n
The ship is sinking with players who aren\u2019t providing results:<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s preface by saying that Spoelstra has forgotten more about basketball than I will ever know. He\u2019s one of the league\u2019s top innovators, tacticians and motivators.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s only so much impact a coach can have in today\u2019s player empowerment era. He hasn\u2019t necessarily been helped out by his front office, but he also hasn\u2019t done himself a ton of favors; Spoelstra isn\u2019t absolved from criticism when looking at the bigger picture.<\/p>\n
And the big picture is that this team isn\u2019t going anywhere. What\u2019s typically been an abnormality \u2014 an undisciplined team lacking so much attention-to-detail, especially defensively \u2014 under Spoelstra has turned into the norm the last few weeks. Yet, the longtime head coach is doubling \u2014 or even tripling \u2014 down on his rotation.<\/p>\n
For the second-straight game, Spoelstra largely relied on the aforementioned seven-game rotation. That will likely expand to eight when Norman Powell is healthy, but as the kids say these days, Spoelstra\u2019s \u201clost the plot.\u201d<\/p>\n
At this juncture, the Heat should be prioritizing their future, not moving away from it. If Kasparas Jakucionis is healthy, he should be playing; if Nikola Jovic is available, regardless of how turbulent this season\u2019s been for him, he should be playing; Kel\u2019el Ware, regardless of how frustratingly inconsistent his motor is, should be playing (more); heck, even Myron Gardner and Keshad Johnson should be getting more burn.<\/p>\n
Miami\u2019s defense has given up 128.6 points per 100 possessions over the last two weeks with a defensive rating of at least 130.0 in seven of its last nine games.<\/p>\n
Yes, we know the Heat want to win games. But they\u2019re not; their current formula isn\u2019t working. That\u2019s not to say they should bench, say, Bam Adebayo. They shouldn\u2019t. But it\u2019s time to try something else, especially since this season\u2019s a lost cause. And it\u2019s time to give others chances, especially since none of it can possibly be worse than what we\u2019re already seeing.<\/p>\n
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