In a season of bad losses, add one more to the Miami Heat’s ledger.
A particularly painful loss.
Both emotionally.
And in the standings.
Recovering from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime on a twisting Jimmy Butler 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer, the Heat nonetheless found a way to lose Saturday night to a team that entered the night 27-40.
Perhaps fittingly, it ended with Butler walking off the court before the 126-114 overtime loss to the Orlando Magic at Amway Center was over, with the Heat assessed a technical foul for only having four players on the court.
Butler seemingly could not have done more on his 38-point night, matching his regular-season high as a member of the Heat.
Butler’s teammates could not do nearly enough otherwise, no other Heat player scoring more than 14.
“Usually you’d have that kind of effort and that kind of performance,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, “your team, you find a way to figure it out and get a win. I think we all thought once he hit that one to send it into overtime, we felt that we were going to be able to control the overtime from there.”
Instead, the Heat failed to gain ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race on a day the New York Knicks lost and the Brooklyn Nets were idle.
Nor could they solidify their standing at No. 7, with the No. 8 Atlanta Hawks losing to the Boston Celtics.
Instead, outrebounded 54-35, just 11 of 37 on 3-point attempts and unable to make a positive out of the returns of Kyle Lowry and Omer Yurtseven.
“We’re expected to win,” Butler said. “We’re in a fight for our life right now.
Five Degrees of Heat from Saturday’s game:
1. Scramble to overtime: The Heat trailed 34-24 at the end of the first period, after committing seven turnovers in the quarter. Then, after moving ahead by six in the second period, the Heat went into the intermission down 58-55. From there, there was an 81-78 deficit going into the fourth.
It got worse from there, with the Magic moving to a 101-86 lead with 6:03 to play in regulation.
Through it all, including a video review that rescinded a call that would have sent Butler to the line for three free throws, the Heat found a way to force overtime.
They found that way when Butler converted a twisting, leaning, double-pump 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer to tie it 108-108 at the end of regulation.
“But that don’t matter, because we lost,” Butler said, downplaying what it took for him to force overtime. “All of the making shots in the world doesn’t win this game.”
2. The extra period: Consecutive 3-pointers from Jalen Suggs and Cole Anthony moved the Magic to a 116-110 lead with 3:25 to play in overtime, with a Wendell Carter Jr. dunk with 3:02 to play putting Orlando up 118-110.
Then, after the Heat got a pair of Gabe Vincent free throws for the Heat, the Magic got five consecutive points from Carter for a 123-112 lead, fully draining the Heat from all the momentum gained at the end of regulation.
“They controlled it from there,” Spoelstra said of the extra period. “And then it just became the floodgates from there.
“At the end of the day we still had an opportunity. Regardless of how we got there.”
3. Leading man: Butler continues to set the tone for the Heat offense, up to 23 points when he went to the bench late in the third period, a juncture when no teammate had more than 10.
Butler checked out with 2:03 left in the third period and the Heat down 78-76. He returned with 7:26 to play and the Heat down 93-83.
Spoelstra tried, unsuccessfully, to buy time for by playing Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Kyle Lowry together as Butler sat.
But Butler compensated for the shortcomings of others, with 38 points going into overtime, unfathomably not getting a shot in the extra period.
“He’s on an impressive run right now,” Butler said.
As for Herro, it turned out that food poisoning took him off the court both early and late.
4. Lowry back: Lowry played as a reserve in his return, ending his streak of starting 677 consecutive appearances.
It was his first appearance since Feb. 2, having missed 15 games in the interim with knee pain.
Lowry last played as a reserve in the 2012-13 season, in his first year with Toronto. He had started in all 107 of his previous Heat regular-season appearances.
The 36-year-old veteran first entered with 6:21 to play in the opening period, after Butler was called for his second foul.
Lowry’s frustration later would boil over, called for a technical foul with 6:33 to play.
But he then came on to play a key role in the Heat’s fourth-quarter comeback.
He closed with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting and four assists in 36 minutes.
“I scanned a couple of things on the box score,” Spoelstra said, “and I saw that. I was like, ‘Oh, man, that definitely wasn’t the plan.’ But he’s prepared himself. He’ll take care of himself. He’ll be ready to go.”
Added Butler, “Now we just got to get him back and win.”
5. Zeller out; Yurtseven in: Second-year center Yurtseven made his season debut with 32.5 seconds left in the first period after Heat backup center Cody Zeller took a shot to the face and was forced to the locker room.
Zeller took stitches beneath his right eye, with a scan revealing a broken nose.
Zeller was defending on the play when Suggs led with his elbow, with the collision taking both players off the court. Suggs then returned early in the second period.
Yurtseven wound up playing seven minutes, missing his lone shot and finishing scoreless, with one rebound.
“The initial part felt different,” Yurtseven said of his initial stint of the game. “I think every time is going to be exponentially better.”
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Source: Berkshire mont
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