Through the first 30 games of the season, the Miami Heat is not where it wants to be. But the Heat believes it has taken steps forward during its long trip.
Despite a three-game losing skid and a few painful losses to shorthanded teams during the trip, it’s hard to argue with the Heat’s stance following its 96-94 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night at Staples Center.
The Heat, which entered Sunday with the Eastern Conference’s 10th-best record at 13-17, is 3-3 on its seven-game trip — tied for the longest road trip in franchise history. A victory over the struggling Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday (9 p.m., Fox Sports Sun) at Chesapeake Energy Arena would send Miami home with a 4-3 winning record on the trip.
“I think, without a doubt, this is one of the best segments of the season for us,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Saturday night. “For the mere fact that we’ve had great meeting time, practice time, shootaround, walkthrough, all of it where the majority of our team has been out together. We’ve made big strides I think in the last eight, nine days of this trip and we’ve dealt with some adversity together. I think that’s always good for our group.”
Of course, the Heat is not whole just yet. Miami has been without guards Avery Bradley (right calf strain) and Goran Dragic (left ankle sprain), who have both been consistent members of the rotation when available this season, and Meyers Leonard (season-ending left shoulder surgery) and Chris Silva (left hip flexor strain) for the entire trip.
But compared to earlier this season when there were games the Heat had to play without Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and Dragic, most of the team’s core has been together and the rotation has stabilized during the trip. Miami has used the same starting lineup of Kendrick Nunn, Duncan Robinson, Butler, Kelly Olynyk and Bam Adebayo in each of the past eight games, including the first six games of the trip.
“We’re just getting closer as units,” Adebayo said. “This road trip has been good for us because when we’re home we really can’t see each other. We’re in the hotel now, we’re traveling together on the plane, getting to talk to one another and really getting that cohesive brotherhood again that we had last year. It’s great for us and we just got to keep building from here.”
There have been signs of improvement from the Heat’s offense recently, especially with its ball movement and off-ball body movement that has helped it average 62 paint points in the last four games (up from its season average of 43.2 paint points per game). But Miami still entered Sunday with the NBA’s 24th-best offensive rating over the past 10 games and 26th-best offensive rating for the season.
Instead, it has been the Heat’s defense that has led it to a 6-4 record in the last 10 games and has it one victory away from a winning West Coast trip. Miami entered Sunday with the league’s second-best defensive rating over the past 10 games and eighth-best defensive rating for the season.
“This is the longest road trip we’ve been on so far,” said Nunn, who scored a team-high 27 points while shooting 10 of 14 from the field and 5 of 6 on threes in Saturday’s win over the Lakers. “You can tell that chemistry is building. We’ve been together for a week and a half now. It just gives us more feel of each other, being around each other more. We’re moving in the right direction right now. We dropped a couple early, but I think we’re starting to give ourselves the best chance going into the fourth and then learning how to finish games.”
Just a few days ago, Butler said the Heat was still “a ways away from being a good team.” That may be true, especially since it entered this season with championship aspirations after losing in the NBA Finals in October, but it doesn’t mean the Heat hasn’t taken steps forward during its time on the road.
Whether the Heat wins Monday to clinch a winning trip or not, players and coaches believe it has been a productive stretch.
“More confidence,” Butler said during an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols following Saturday’s win when asked what has been different during this recent stretch. “Realizing that we belong and just staying together through the good and through the bad. ... We just got to start stringing together wins. On the road, at home, against the Lakers, against anybody.”
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Herro, who recently moved into a bench role and has played as the Heat’s sixth man on the trip, did not play in the second half of Saturday’s win over the Lakers because of a right hip contusion he sustained in the first half.
His status for Monday’s game against the Thunder is still unknown. Herro recorded five points, four rebounds and three assists in 14 minutes before exiting Saturday’s contest because of the hip injury.
“We’re used to it. Every game, there’s going to be something,” Spoelstra said when asked about Herro’s injury after Saturday’s game. “This is developing a level of toughness out of our group. It’s unfortunate. I don’t have any more information for you. It’s a hip pointer. We’ll evaluate him [Sunday].”
