The Miami Heat are on a losing streak and working to snap out of it as the news and rumors ramp up.
Check out the latest buzz below.
Wade Bounces Back From Injury, But Concerned About Losing
Dwyane Wade has recovered well from his early season injury, but he and Chris Bosh are concerned about being two games under .500 and fighting for one of the lower seeds in the Eastern Conference.
The Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Chicago Bulls appear to be locked in to the top four seeds, and if any team ousts one of them it looks like it will be the Atlanta Hawks, not the Heat.
“It gives you an appreciation for what you have when you have it. And, it’s a different challenge. And that’s what it is for us. And we’re just going to have to find out a way to really overcome situations and respond the right way,” Bosh told the Sun Sentinel.
“We all know it’s difficult. It’s a change for everybody, especially the guys that have been here. It’s a change in feeling now, because we’re not used to losing, and we’re losing right now.”
“It’s a frustrating from the standpoint you want to win. There’s about six of us in here who have been in those games and you come out, it’s frustrating from that standpoint,” he said about himself, Bosh, Udonis Haslem, Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, and Chris Andersen.
“But not from the standpoint of knowing that this was what we were going to have to go through. And I think the thing is when you’re a new team, when you’re a team that has to develop, you just want to see your guys getting better, you want to feel that you’re getting better.”
The good news is Wade has scored at least 20 points in his five games since returning from injury, but the Heat have gone 1-4 in that stretch.
“I feel better,” he told the Sun Sentinel. “I’m still trying to get my legs back under me after missing two and a half weeks. So every game I feel like I’m getting a little better and I just want to continue.”
McRoberts Making Progress
Josh McRoberts had a notoriously rough start to the season, but is starting to blend in with his new team.
The Heat lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, but McRoberts posted solid numbers--14 points, five rebounds, and five assists.
“He touched the ball a lot. And we love a guy who can make plays the way he can, and he started off early being aggressive,” Dwyane Wade told the Sun Sentinel.
“So he’s getting his legs now. He missed all of training camp. He missed the whole preseason. So he’s continued to get a feel of everything and getting a feel of the game now.”
Coach Erik Spoelstra said that McRoberts was dealing with illness on Sunday but played through it.
Prior to the game, his season-high was eight points.
While McRoberts is making progress, it will take more time for him and others to fully start playing together.
“He threw a pass that I didn’t even think he saw me. It went out of bounds,” Wade said, with McRoberts and Wade combining for eight of Sunday’s 11 turnovers. “And that just takes time, to get on the same page.”
Birdman Still Out
Chris Andersen remained out with a sprained right ankle. He was with the team and did some pregame workouts.
Coach Erik Spoelstra said Andersen may be ahead of schedule for return, “but he hasn’t done any contact yet.”
Bleacher Report noted that Birdman is quickly going down thanks to age and injury, with career lows so far in rebounding rates and block percentage, and struggles with shooting percentage and turnovers.
The report wonders whether the Heat can find anyone to replace Andersen, who was a crucial but often overlooked component of the team in the last couple seasons.
“It’s hard to overstate how valuable Andersen has been to Miami. In 2013-14, the final season of the Big Three era, it wasn’t Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh, but Andersen who finished second to LeBron James in both wins produced and win shares, according to Basketball-Reference.com and BoxScore Geeks, respectively,” it said.
“And the Birdman accomplished this while playing just 19.4 minutes a night across 72 games. He’s been even better in the postseason, which were the games that truly mattered in the now-bygone LeBron epoch. According to Basketball-Reference.com, Andersen posted a true shooting percentage of 72.2 across the 2012-13 and 2013-14 postseasons.”
The one player who compares to Andersen in terms of production combined with low salary is Brandan Wright of the Dallas Mavericks, but it would be difficult to lure him away from the more talented Mavs.
“There’s no one else who can do what the Birdman does, let alone at the bargain-basement rate he’s willing to play for. He was—is, in memory at least—a singular figure. The quiet, anonymous engine behind the second half of the Heat’s mini-dynasty,” the report concluded.
“LeBron’s departure loudly declared the end of an era for Miami, sure. But the Birdman’s decline, while less trumpeted, is its punctuation point.”
Heat Downed by Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies showed they are not solely dependent on their inside game for success.
Jon Leuer scored a season-high 20 points and matched his career best with 12 rebounds as Memphis beat the Miami Heat 103-87 on Sunday.
“He played out of his mind,” said Memphis guard Courtney Lee, who had 17 points. “That’s the Jon Leuer we see every day in practice being athletic, getting up and down the floor and stretching the floor. Once he hit his first shot, his confidence was through the roof.”
Leuer was 7 of 12 from the floor, including 2 of 3 from outside the arc, as Memphis used accurate shooting from its guards and shot 62 percent from 3-point range. Mike Conley had 18 points for Memphis, connecting on all eight of his shots, while Lee was 7 of 9 in the game. Conley and Lee combined to go 5 for 5 from distance.
Memphis made 59 percent of its shots overall while snapping a two-game losing streak.
“They didn’t even hurt us in (their) normal game, that’s what’s disappointing,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “.It wasn’t really the power, paint, post-up game that you would expect.”
Zach Randolph matched Lee’s 17 points, while Tony Allen had 14 points, shooting 6 of 8.
Memphis coach Dave Joerger said Leuer’s performance as “sensational,” a bit of reversal from earlier in the year when the stretch forward struggled shooting. In the last six games, Leuer had not reached double figures in scoring and didn’t even play in Friday’s loss to San Antonio.
“It’s just a matter of seeing the ball go in a couple of times,” Leuer said of gaining confidence. “Just focusing on doing all the little things. When you focus on playing the right way and making good decisions, playing hard, shots tend to fall.”
Dwyane Wade scored 25 points in Miami’s fourth straight loss. Josh McRoberts added 14 points, Luol Deng finished with 13, and Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers added 12 apiece.
“They made us pay for bad possessions,” Wade said. “They hit some shots, and it was going against what we wanted them to do. .We came in with a game plan for the Grizzlies, and they beat us another way.”
Consecutive baskets by Wade to open the fourth quarter pulled the Heat within 82-79, but Memphis answered with eight straight points to take its lead back to double digits, eventually extending the margin to 17.
“In order to get better each year, you’ve got to improve on something,” Lee said. “Everybody knows that’s our DNA, to get it down low to the big fellas and let them go to work. It opens up everything for everybody else.”
TIP-INS
Heat: Deng recorded a steal in the first half, the 700th of his career. ... Bosh missed his only shot outside the arc, ending a string of 10 straight games with a 3-pointer. ... The Heat’s last four opponents have averaged 55.9 percent shooting and 39 of 73 (53.4 percent) from 3-point range.
Grizzlies: Memphis C Marc Gasol drew a technical for the third consecutive game. Sunday’s, however, was for delay of game. ... Gasol, Memphis’ leading scorer, managed only two points on 1 of 6 shooting. ... Leuer had 12 rebounds on Dec. 9, 2013, against Orlando.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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