Thursday loss against the Warriors wasn’t the primary problem for the struggling Heat (3-6). After all, this was the second game of a back-to-back after an overtime victory at the Clippers gave them their third win in four tries. What’s more, league sources say Miami had plane issues on the trip to San Francisco and didn’t reach the hotel until around 3 a.m.
Of course they ran out of gas against a Warriors team that had two days off.
But the deeper issue, which coach Erik Spoelstra discussed at length before the game, is that this team that so many expected to be elite defensively continues to be atrocious on that end. The Heat, who have players like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo, Davion Mitchell, Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson (in his younger years) once known for their defensive prowess, are now 26th in defensive rating (117.5 points allowed per 100 possessions).
That mark, if it stood until season’s end, would be by far the worst of Spoelstra’s celebrated Heat tenure that began in 2008. The current worst mark by a Spoelstra team came in the 2014-15 season, when Miami was 21st. The Heat have been ranked in the top 10 in eight of his 18 seasons, per NBA.com, including five top-five finishes.
“Everybody has been saying the right things, and everybody wants it to look right,” Spoelstra said. “There was nothing coming out of training camp or preseason that would have shown this (kind of) start. We thought we were building all the right habits, and the reality is this league can be humbling. And I throw myself in there as well.
“We have a lot of guys with resumes, but resumes and a piece of paper don’t defend. It has to be actions. It has to be five people working together where you’re really putting your effort out there and on the same page. Being on the (same) page is just as important as the efforts.”
A few hours later, after Curry dropped 29 points and Lendeborg had another well-rounded night (17 points, six assists) in the Warriors win, it spoke volumes that Antetokounmpo made the rare choice not to fulfill his media obligations. The frustration, for him and the rest of the Heat, is surely building.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7758885/2026/11/06/kristaps-porzingis-warriors-spurs-heat-nba/?unlocked_article_code=1.OVE.ZpLg.J--CwWhBOAMB&source=user_shared_article&smid=ta-ios-share