MIAMI _ The last time the Miami Heat were this pent up about a lack of free throws, coach Erik Spoelstra prefaced his comments by saying, "Look, NBA do not fine me."
That was after his team was rewarded with only eight foul shots compared to 26 for the Golden State Warriors in a two-point loss Feb. 10.
No fine followed, just league acknowledgment of a key missed late officiating call.
This time, with the Philadelphia 76ers attempting 35 free throws to his team's 12 in Thursday night's 106-102 loss at Wells Fargo Center, Spoelstra simply offered, "I'm not even going to get into it and I told our players not even to get into it. It doesn't look right."
But his players did get into it, particularly guard Dion Waiters, whose 18-point effort closed with just two attempts from the line.
"At the end of the day, I feel like we played hard, we attacked, and calls didn't go our way," Waiters said. "You look at the fouls and things like that, man, it's 35-12. So it's kind of hard when you're battling and you know you give it everything you've got and you can't touch guys out there.
"It's been like that. So it's frustrating. But at the end of the day, we can only control what we can control. Something's got to give also, man. You've got too many guys on this team that drive. As far as us getting in the paint, the numbers are right there and we don't go to the free-throw line at all."
The Heat closed with 66 points in the paint to the 76ers' 52.
"Like I said man, you know something's got to give," Waiters said, with the Heat turning their attention to Saturday night's game against the Detroit Pistons at AmericanAirlines Arena. "At the end of the day, we've got to keep fighting through it, keep battling. And as hard as it sounds, and it's very frustrating, we've just got to stay with it."
Waiters said it's as if the Heat's physical reputation has been discounted on one end of the court. The Heat are 20th in free throws at 22 per game.
"You know, we're physical," he said. "That's what we're known for, a physical, tough team. We're going to make it hard every night for you.
"But we're going to put our heads down too and get to the basket. There's guys like myself, I get in the paint a whole lot. I went to the free-throw line twice. Come on, man. When you look at (35-12) free throws, something's not right."
