CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Midway through the second quarter on Saturday, the Heat appeared destined for their second miserable road game in 24 hours. Trailing by 22 to the Charlotte Hornets — the Eastern Conference’s second-worst team — Miami was mired in a deep shooting slump.
But the Heat came alive, going on a 13-0 run in the second quarter and cutting the deficit to just three points by the end of the half. The momentum did not push Miami into the lead, though, and the Heat could not complete the comeback, falling to the Hornets 108-103 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte on Saturday.
Unfortunately for the Heat, they picked up where they left off Friday night in Milwaukee. Baskets seemed nearly impossible to come by early Saturday night. Miami started the game 2 for 10 from the field, making only one of its first five 3s.
Like the Bucks did on Friday, the Hornets built a double-digit lead in the first quarter. Miami shot a dreadful 20.8% (5 for 24) from the field and 1 for 9 from 3 in the first period. Jimmy Butler was the only Heat player to make more than one basket in the first quarter.
Although Charlotte entered Saturday’s game as the league’s seventh-worst team in opponent field-goal percentage, Miami’s shooting issues continued into the second quarter. The Heat missed 10 shots in a row at the end of the first and start of the second quarter, and made only seven of their first 33 shots and missed 10 of their first 11 3-point attempts.
The Heat began knocking down shots with more frequency in the second quarter, going on a key 13-0 run that helped cut the deficit to just three points by the end of the half after outscoring the Hornets 35-25 in the period.
However, the hot shooting in the second quarter did not carry into the third. Charlotte outscored Miami 28-21 in the third quarter and got their lead back into the double digits. Miami charged back into the game in the fourth quarter, going on a 9-0 to begin the period. But the Hornets countered with a 6-0 run to keep Miami at arm’s length.
Miami did tie the game up with 7:53 left in the quarter, but the Hornets pushed back ahead. The Heat kept themselves in the game, cutting their deficit back to one point with 2:06 left in the final quarter, but the Hornets held them off.
Five degrees of Heat from Saturday’s game:
— 1. Shooting problems pop up again: Miami finished their loss to the Hornets shooting 40% from the field and 30.6 from 3.
Those marks were near the Heat’s season average of 39% on field goals and 33.2% from 3, but the Heat’s early shooting woes doomed their effort on Saturday, as they spent the rest of the game trying to dig out of that deep, early hole.
Miami finished the game with 100 points per 100 possessions, which ranks in the 10th percentile in the NBA this season, according to the basketball analytics website Cleaning the Glass.
— 2. Love’s double-double with minor injury: The Heat added Love to their injury report Saturday, listing him as probable with a hyperextended left knee.
However, the veteran forward decided he would be able to play after warming up, and Spoelstra put Love in the starting lineup for the second straight game.
Love, who missed his last 12 games in Cleveland, did not express any frustration about the minor injury after one game back on the court, Spoelstra said before the game.
“He’s stable. Everybody’s just more frustrated about how we played,” Spoelstra said before the game. “Everybody was looking forward to that game. We just weren’t on top of our game and they were, and we suffered the consequences for that.”
The Heat’s new veteran rewarded Spoelstra for putting him back in the lineup, notching his sixth double-double of the season and first with Miami. He finished the game with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
— 3. Bench points, or lack thereof: The Heat’s starting lineup of Adebayo, Butler, Herro, Love and Vincent provided the vast majority of Miami’s points on Saturday, with the Heat’s bench scoring just 10 points.
Charlotte’s bench scored 36 points on Saturday, with Kelly Oubre Jr. scoring 15 points and Dennis Smith Jr. notching 15.
— 4. Butler to the line: Butler was a frequent occupant of the Spectrum Center’s foul stripes. The Heat’s leading scorer this season scored 28 points on Saturday, with 16 of those points coming on free throws (on 20 attempts).
Butler finished the game with six assists and three rebounds in addition to his 28 points.
— 5. Herro for three: Herro was Miami’s best shooter from behind the arc on Saturday, knocking down six of 12 threes. The rest of the team shot just 20.8 percent from three.
Herro, who represented Miami at the 3-point competition during the All-Star Game festivities, has finished above 50 percent from behind the arc four times in 2023 but just once this month.
Herro led Miami in scoring with 33 points in the loss.
