The Miami Heat’s five-game West Coast trip didn’t go the way they would have hoped after going 2-3, and have many issues to address as they travel back home to get ready for a four-game home stand. For starters, Miami has shot 38% from the three this season, before the road trip they were number one in the league at just over 39% but the team shot 30% from distance on this road trip, the Heat typically shoot 37% from three on the road. Moving forward this team will have to get back to their normal percentage if they want to compete in games especially without some of their top players.
The health concerns for the Heat continued through this road trip. Jimmy Butler and Josh Richardson both missed three games, Haywood Highsmith missed two games, and Caleb Martin missed the entire road trip. Miami used four different lineups in this series, they have used 19 different starting lineups this year. Fortunately, most of their core and important role players have been available this season. The way this team has stayed afloat in games and in the Eastern Conference says a lot about those who are at the end of the rotation. Players such as Jamal Cain, R.J. Hampton, Nikola Jovic and Thomas Bryant who were all ready for their opportunity when their number was called.
Miami handled the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers and held the lead wire-to-wire in both wins. They lost to the Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns by double digits where they shot and defended terribly against two teams you cannot be undermanned against. Their loss against the Jazz was the tipping scale for going 2-3 or 3-2 on this road trip. It was a game where Miami went completely cold down the stretch in the fourth quarter, they couldn’t buy a bucket, and allowed Keyonte George to get hot in the fourth when the Jazz couldn’t get it going from deep the entire game up to that point.
The Heat moved to 11-9 on the road and now head back to Miami where they are 9-6 with a four-game stretch against the Rockets, Thunder, Magic, concluding with their final meeting against the Hornets. A lot of room to improve but health is the main concern with this team.
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