The Heat were searching for answers Tuesday night, and head coach Erik Spoelstra didn’t pretend otherwise after a 21-point home loss to the Raptors, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
Spoelstra said earlier road losses in Boston and New York at least showed competitive signs. This one did not.
“This is not what I would have predicted,” Spoelstra said. “I thought we were ready. I thought we had a good session this morning. I thought coming off of our last two games, on the road, even though there were losses, there were way more good things than negative things.
“In the New York game, we competed with a great spirit. That kind of game, you win a lot of games. But I don’t even know right now.”
The numbers back up his frustration.
Miami entered December at 13-7, with the NBA’s 13th-ranked offense and third-ranked defense. Since then, the Heat have gone 2-8, the worst record in the league over that stretch.
Their offense has cratered to 27th, while the defense has slipped to 18th, leaving Miami back at .500 (15-15).
Third-year wing Jaime Jaquez Jr. didn’t shy away from accountability, starting with himself.
“I think it all starts individually,” Jaquez said. “We all got to look ourselves in the mirror. I know I can do a lot more. There’s a lot more that I know I can bring to this team. And just got to go dig deep and find it, bring it out. That goes for every one of us.
“It’s a tough stretch right now, and we’re really going to discover who we are in this time. And I’m confident in this team, I’m confident in this locker room. It’s something that we’re just going to have to battle through.”
In short, the Heat are doing plenty of battling — but not nearly enough winning.
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