Heat learns another ‘tough lesson’ in historically stunning loss to Magic: ‘We have to be better’

What had already been a rough week for the Miami Heat ended as a horrific one.

The Heat entered the week riding a season-long four-game winning streak and standing a season-best three games above .500.

Then the Heat lost to a short-handed Pistons team in Detroit on Monday despite leading by eight points with 2:14 left in overtime.

Then after three days off, the Heat fell to an elite Thunder team on Friday that was playing on the second night of a back-to-back set and its third game in four nights.

It only got worse, as the Heat suffered one of its most improbable losses in recent years on Saturday in Orlando.

Yes, the Heat was without one of its best players in Jimmy Butler because of a stomach illness.

But the Orlando Magic was without its top three players, as Paolo Banchero (torn right oblique), Jalen Suggs (sprained right ankle) and Franz Wagner (torn right oblique) all missed Saturday’s game. In addition, the Magic was without Gary Harris (strained left hamstring) before also losing Moe Wagner to an apparent knee injury late in Saturday’s first quarter and Wendell Carter Jr. to an ejection in the second quarter.

The Heat also led by as many as 25 points in the first half and entered the fourth quarter with a 22-point advantage before its sudden late-game collapse, allowing the depleted Magic to storm back and earn a stunning 121-114 win on Saturday night at Kia Center.

As a result, the Heat (13-13) has dropped three straight games and is back at .500 for the season.

“It’s hard to get wins in this league,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said after the team wilted in the fourth quarter and allowed the Magic to rally for the win. “The easiest thing to do is be mediocre and lose. For us, this is definitely a teaching point. Being up like that, how can we sustain our mindset to keep pushing forward.”

But Saturday’s fourth quarter is more than just a teaching point for the Heat, it’s a quarter that was historically bad.

The Magic dominated the Heat down the stretch, winning the fourth quarter 37-8 to turn a 22-point deficit at the start of the period into a miraculous seven-point victory.

That 29-point margin matches the most points that the Heat has ever lost a single quarter by in franchise history, with Miami also losing a fourth quarter by 29 points in a Dec. 17, 1991 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. It’s also tied for the seventh-most lopsided fourth quarter in NBA history.

The eight points scored in Saturday’s fourth quarter is tied for the fourth-fewest points that the Heat has totaled in a fourth quarter in franchise history. It’s also the fewest points by any NBA team in any quarter this season.

According to the Associated Press, NBA teams leading by 22 points or more entering the fourth quarter were 796-0 in games since Dec. 22, 2019 before the Heat blew a 22-point fourth-quarter lead on Saturday.

“These are tough lessons that we all have to learn,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, with the team back in Miami to host the Brooklyn Nets on Monday (7:30 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun). “We all had our fingerprints in this loss in that fourth quarter, including myself.”

With Butler unavailable against the Magic, the Heat leaned on Adebayo and Tyler Herro on Saturday. But after Adebayo and Herro combined for 42 through the first three quarters, they combined to score just three points during the Heat’s dismal fourth quarter.

Adebayo scored three points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field and Herro was scoreless in the final period.

“I feel like we relaxed because we were up,” Adebayo said. “I feel like that’s the karma of the game. You relax and then you let a team get hot, and then it goes the other way and you’re trying to fight back.”

While the Magic shot 60.9 percent from the field and 4 of 8 (50 percent) from three-point range in the fourth quarter, the Heat shot just 2 of 18 (11.1 percent) from the field and 0 of 8 from behind the arc in the final period. The Heat also committed five turnovers in the fourth quarter after erupting for 76 points in the first half for its highest-scoring half of the season.

“You have to credit them,” Spoelstra emphasized. “They stepped up their defense, they got stops. That’s what they do. We started to try to self-will a little bit versus that pressure, that led to turnovers. And then when we did get open looks, we weren’t in a rhythm and you’re feeling a little bit of the momentum shift. It’s tough to knock those down.”

Meanwhile, Magic guard Cole Anthony kept knocking down shots. Anthony, who is averaging 6.2 points per game this season, scored 13 of his 35 points on Saturday in the game-changing fourth quarter.

“It just became an absolute avalanche from there,” Spoelstra said of Anthony’s late-game scoring surge. “Once he hit two, it became three, four. Going into the fourth quarter, he was in a great rhythm. And so even though there was some separation, that’s the danger. You let an ignitable guy like that see a couple go down and the momentum just shifted from there.”

Unfortunately for the Heat, there have already been a few painful losses this season. But Saturday’s defeat is one that will be remembered for a long time because NBA team’s don’t often blow 22-point leads in the fourth quarter.

“These are tough ass lessons to complete a game,” Spoelstra said. “This is the modern NBA right now. A 20-point lead is not what it was a decade ago and you have to finish all the way through.”

The hope is that Butler will return for Monday’s matchup against the Nets after missing Saturday’s loss with a stomach illness, as the Heat looks to snap its three-game skid. But even with Butler, the Heat has been mediocre with an 11-9 record when he plays this season.

“Clearly, we have to be better,” Spoelstra said.

INJURY REPORT

The Heat listed Butler (stomach illness) as questionable for Monday’s home game against the Nets.

It also appears that the Heat will get Kevin Love back Monday after he missed Saturday’s contest because of personal reasons. Love is probable to play against the Nets.

The Heat also listed Josh Christopher and Keshad Johnson as probable to be available for Monday’s game. Christopher and Johnson, who are on two-way contracts, are expected to play for the Sioux Falls Skyforce in Sunday night’s championship game of the G League Showcase in Orlando before joining the Heat in Miami.

Josh Richardson (right heel inflammation) is the only Heat player definitively ruled out for Monday’s game against the Nets. It will mark the fifth straight game that Richardson has missed with his heel issue.