Heat Struggling to Close Games, Searching for Answers

The Miami Heat’s inability to hold onto late-game leads has become a troubling trend. With another blown fourth-quarter advantage on Saturday, Miami has now squandered a fourth-quarter lead in seven of its last eight losses and 14 times overall this season. Only the Minnesota Timberwolves (16) have more such collapses.

Additionally, the Heat have blown a double-digit lead in 16 losses this season—second-worst in the league behind only the Utah Jazz (17). The team’s struggles in tight games are also evident in their 13-20 record in clutch situations (games within five points in the final five minutes). That’s a stark contrast to their 77-57 clutch record over the past three seasons.

“If we knew, we would do it,” Tyler Herro admitted when asked how the Heat could fix their late-game struggles. “I’m not really sure how to get over that hurdle right now. But just continuing to stick with it.”

Head coach Erik Spoelstra shouldered some of the blame, particularly for how he managed rotations. “I felt like I didn’t do a good job with managing the minutes,” Spoelstra said. Since the All-Star break, Bam Adebayo and Herro have been logging a team-high 36 minutes per game.

“There was some fatigue in that fourth quarter,” Spoelstra acknowledged. “If I could have gotten them a little bit more of a break, I think we would have gotten enough of a boost to finish this off.”

With the playoffs looming, Miami must find a solution—before late-game woes define its season.