PHOENIX _ Goran Dragic pushed past his back spasms to put the Miami Heat on his back during the first half Tuesday night.
Problem was there also was a second half. And, eventually, a 99-90 Phoenix Suns victory at Talking Stick Resort Arena, even with the Heat's Willie Reed offering his best Hassan Whiteside imitation.
The first 24 minutes of this six-game trip couldn't have been better for Dragic, with 22 points in the first half, his highest-scoring half of the season. But that's when foul trouble caught up to Dragic and attrition caught up to a Heat roster limited to eight healthy players.
And, so, an eighth consecutive road loss for the Heat followed, with losses in nine of their last 10, despite Willie Reed closing with 22 points and 18 rebounds, both career highs.
The loss snapped the Heat's 12-game winning streak against the Suns, which had been their longest against an opponent.
With Whiteside, Justise Winslow and Josh McRoberts back in Miami dealing with injuries, with Dion Waiters still sidelined with a groin issue, with James Johnson out with a bout of food poisoning and Tyler Johnson out with a migraine, it left the Heat with the minimum-allowable eight players in uniform.
That left the Heat with their 15th starting lineup, with Reed at center, Luke Babbitt at power forward, Rodney McGruder at small forward, Josh Richardson at shooting guard and Dragic at point guard. It was the sixth consecutive game the Heat utilized a different lineup.
It also left Wayne Ellington, Derrick Williams and Udonis Haslem as the Heat's only available reserves.
The Suns also were shorthanded, with guard Brandon Knight, the Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest standout, out due to a sprained right wrist.
Dragic was limited to just two points in the third period, having to go to the bench with his fourth foul with 7:24 to play in the period. The Heat scored just 14 in the quarter, on 4-of-20 shooting, to go into the fourth down 83-66, similar to how they were unable to sustain early success in Sunday's loss to the Detroit Pistons at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Dragic never recovered, nor did the Heat. After his brilliant start, Dragic closed with 24 points against his former team.
Dragic shot 9-of-13 over the opening two periods, with six assists in the first half.
The Heat nonetheless trailed 56-52 at the intermission, with no other Heat player with more than eight points in the first half.
The Suns, by contrast, got double-digit scoring in the first half from Eric Bledsoe, Marquese Chriss and Leandro Barbosa.
Despite being shorthanded, the Heat for the second consecutive game were efficient early offensively, pushing to a nine-point first-quarter lead, before going into the second quarter ahead 29-28.
Dragic returned from the back spasms that had him out of three of the previous four games to score 13 points in the first period on 5-of-6 shooting.
The next stop on the Heat's trip is Wednesday against the Sacramento Kings.
