ORLANDO, Fla. _ For all the narratives of the climb back into playoff contention there now is this: The Miami Heat are 4-4 in their last eight games, with their next two against the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers.
It is the type of reality that takes plenty of the edge off having won 17 of their last 21.
Falling to the Orlando Magic for the third time as the four-game season series concluded, the Heat fell behind by double digits early and never regained their footing in a 110-99 loss Friday night at the Amway Center.
While the tease of a postseason berth remains in place, with the Heat 1{ games behind the Detroit Pistons for the No. 8 seed in the East, this one and Monday's loss to the Dallas Mavericks are the ones that weren't supposed to get away.
Yet somehow the Heat have found a way to sweep the Houston Rockets 2-0, split 1-1 with the Golden State Warriors and go 1-3 against the Magic.
Twice Heat coach Erik Spoelstra yanked center Hassan Whiteside in an attempt to spark a defensive fire, instead the Heat again found themselves unable to contain the Magic's offense.
Long-time Heat nemesis Nikola Vucevic again offered his own brand of torment, with the Magic center closing with 25 points, Whiteside often reluctant to meet him on the perimeter. Forward Aaron Gordon sparked the Magic's perimeter attack with 21 points.
For the Heat, there were the 1-of-11 and 3-of-14 shooting struggles, respectively, of starting guards Dion Waiters and Goran Dragic.
And while Whiteside did record his 103rd double-double with the Heat, with 15 points and 18 rebounds, to move past LeBron James into fifth place on the franchise's all-time list, it hardly felt like a moment of note.
There was a bit of late life from the Heat.
An alley-oop from Dragic to Whiteside drew the Heat within 95-85 with 6:22 to play, with a Wayne Ellington steal and score moving the Heat within 95-87 with 5:36 to play. But along the way there were a pair of Dragic misses that allowed the Magic to go up 97-87.
But that's when Whiteside stepped out to hit a 19-foot jumper and Dragic then drew his second three-shot foul of the game. Dragic made only the final two free throws, to draw the Heat within 97-91 with exactly four minutes to play.
But the Heat's misses then resumed, as the Magic pushed back to a double-digit lead, capped by an Evan Fournier 3-pointer that gave them a 104-91 lead with 2:14 left.
The Magic pushed their lead to 19 in the third period, before going into the fourth up 85-73, with Vucevic with 21 points by then and Gordon with 19.
The Heat closed within two late in the second quarter behind a pair of 3-pointers from Rodney McGruder and the defense of backup center Willie Reed. But with Gordon sparking the Magic offense, Orlando went into the intermission up 60-53.
Gordon had 17 points in the first half, with James Johnson leading the Heat with 10 first-half points. Waiters shot 1 of 9 in the first half and was 1 of 11 through three quarters.
The Magic burst to a 15-5 lead at the outset, with the Heat opening 2 of 11 from the field, missing five early attempts at the rim, including layups by Dragic and Waiters. The Magic then extended their lead to 13 in the opening period before going into the second quarter up 34-25.
With Reed having missed the previous two games with ankle bursitis, Okaro White again received early minutes at center.
Spoelstra did somewhat shake up his rotation, with Josh Richardson playing off the bench ahead of Ellington, with Richardson leading the Heat with seven first-quarter points.
Richardson then was forced to the bench midway through the second period with his third foul.
The Heat entered having lost three of the previous five in the series, but with victories in eight of their previous nine visits to Orlando.
