MIAMI – After the Miami Heat regressed in the eyes of the team after the loss to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night where they blew another double-digit lead, there will no doubt be a race to find the solution to the late-game woes. As the Heat will look to face their “demons” as Erik Spoelstra said, he also spoke about a certain aspect of recent contests relating to rookie Kel’el Ware.
With the 20-year-old big-man bringing life to the team with his size and presence, there have been games where he is a no-show on the floor and relegated to the bench, despite starting alongside Bam Adebayo in the front court.
Heat’s Erik Spolestra on Kel’el Ware getting key fourth quarter minutes
While it has been a trend for most of the season, Ware has been mostly absent in late-game situations as in the loss to Chicago where they lost a double-digit lead, the Indiana University product didn’t log a single minute.
One could make the argument that Ware was coming off a left knee sprain, but Miami was out-rebounded 15-6 in the final frame where a seven-footer could’ve helped in slowing down the Bulls’ surge. Spoelstra would say to ClutchPoints however that in terms of those fourth-quarter minutes, Ware will “definitely get his opportunities moving forward.”
“With Ware, he’ll definitely get his opportunities moving forward, Look, I get it,” Spoelstra said. “Everybody’s gotten opportunities and if you lose games the coach puts himself out there to be second-guessed. There’s no question about it. And then everybody else, you know, you can catch strays as well. That’s part of the business. This is the business we signed up for. That’s why we have to continue to work on figuring out how to just get over the top and turn these.”
“There’s a lot more good things going on, you know, we’re getting leads and playing well, but we need to handle those moments of truth better,” Spoelstra continued. “And where I saw things getting a lot better, I saw some of the things that we’ve been struggling with six weeks ago kind of happened in Chicago, but I think that’s going to be a short-lived thing. I think the habits and the things that we’ve been working on have been much better.”
Erik Spoelstra on the Heat bouncing back after another tough loss
As the late-game collapse confounds the Heat, Saturday’s game against Chicago was the 16th time the team has blown a double-digit lead, second in the NBA, and the 14th time they lost a lead in the fourth quarter. The feeling of disappointment was palpable in the Miami locker room, but the team is ready to bounce back for a hopeful playoff run as Spoelstra is confident in his team’s “competitive character and spirit.”
“Well, the best thing about the NBA is it’s not very long before you get an opportunity to go out there again,” Spoelstra said. “And yeah, our group has a great competitive character and spirit. Everybody was fine. If you’re not disappointed after a game like that on Saturday night, you don’t have real competitors. But this morning, you know, that’s the part that, you know, I really commend about this group. When it’s time to get to work and collectively try to figure out some solutions, get better. This group laces him up and gets right to work.”
At any rate, before the Heat take on the Hornets in this current five-game home stand, the team is 29-34 which puts them ninth in the Eastern Conference.
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