Spoelstra’s ‘horrendous mistake’ mars 40-point game by Herro in Heat loss in Detroit

Five takeaways from the Heat’s crushing 123-121 overtime loss in Detroit on Tuesday night at Little Caesar Arena:

▪ On one of the best nights of Tyler Herro’s career, the Heat lost in part due to a stunning error by Erik Spoelstra.

First, Detroit’s Jalen Duren soared above Bam Adebayo and dunked on an exceptional in-bounds pass from Cade Cunningham with one second left in overtime, tying the game at 121.

But then Spoelstra called a timeout that the Heat didn’t have, and the officials charged the Heat with a technical foul, which is the penalty when a team calls a timeout when it’s out of timeouts.

Malik Beasley hit the free throw to put the Pistons ahead, 122-121, with one second left. The Pistons kept possession because of the technical foul, and Beasley was fouled and hit one of two free throws, with no time remaining, to account for the final score.

Spoelstra could only wince afterward, as his team fell to 4-6. He was kicking himself afterward.

“I made just a serious mental error at the end,” Spoelstra said. “That’s on me. I feel horrible about it. There’s really no excuse for that. I’m 17 years in. We had talked about it in the huddle. I knew we didn’t have [a timeout]. I just got emotional and reactive on that and I just made a horrendous mistake there at the end. It’s a shame because we really fought back.

“You don’t want to come down to a mental error like that. You would have liked to have seen it go double overtime. It deserved to go double OT and not have someone get in the way of that. Unfortunately, even as a veteran coach, I got in the way of that.”

Herro defended Spoelstra afterward: “Spo is one of the best coaches ever. It happens. Great players make bad plays. Great coaches sometimes, he made a tough decision. It was an intense moment. Sometimes, you get caught up in that. He won us the game last game. We ride with Spo no matter what.”

Adebayo said of Spoelstra’s mistake: “There’s a lot going through our head coach’s mind. Time out we didn’t have. You learn from this at the end of the day... It’s one of those things where he had a glitch, he had a mental mistake. In my eight years, that’s the first time he’s ever done it. I don’t plan on him doing it again. He feels truly bad about his decision.”

The Heat briefly had six players on the court just before the Pistons’ game-tying basket before Spoelstra summoned Kel’El Ware back to the bench:

“I was going to put some size on the ball,” Spoelstra said of initially inserting Ware and then removing him before the play. “And then we made the change because Cunningham was taking the ball out.”

▪ Herro delivered one of the best shooting performances in Heat history, putting Miami in position to win and equaling the Heat franchise record with 10 three-pointers on a 40-point night.

Herro, who finished one point short of his career scoring high, hit six threes in the fourth quarter alone, the last of which tied the game at 111 with 32 seconds left and erased what had been an 11-point deficit with just over five minutes left in regulation.

Herro lost his footing on a difficult jumper before the fourth quarter buzzer, sending the game to overtime.

Then, with the game tied at 119 in OT, Herro beat Beasley off the dribble and leaned in for a six-foot jumper with 1.1 seconds left. It looked like it would be the game-winner until disaster struck in the final second.

“[We said] just make sure you get a good clean look,” Spoelstra said.

Herro closed 10 of 17 on threes and 14 for 27 overall. But this wasn’t only about his scoring; he also dished out eight assists and had four steals.

“Those were not easy threes,” Spoelstra said. “His release has gotten so much quicker. If he’s not knocking down all those shots, we’re not in position for him to have that last possession.”

Herro got better and better as regulation time wore on, scoring two points in the first quarter, six in the second, 12 in the third and 18 in the fourth.

“Just trying to impact the game as much as I can,” Herro said. “At the end, I felt my scoring was needed. We were in position to win. Things will learn from going forward... I’m happy the fight we have. We could have laid down with six minutes left, down 10.”

Besides Herro’s 40, the Heat got 20 points from Adebayo and 14 apiece from Duncan Robinson and Jaime Jaquez Jr.

“Tyler was just sensational,” Spoelstra said.

This was a game of insane runs.

The Pistons began the game on a 10-0 run and stormed ahead by 18, saw the Heat unleash a 21-2 spurt in the first half, but then took control late in the third quarter and early in the fourth, before Herro helped Miami climb out of a 96-82 deficit.

Detroit had a big edge on the boards (56-43) and at the free throw line.

Detroit made 24 of 28 free throws, compared with 10 for 13 for the Heat, which isn’t getting to line as much without Jimmy Butler.

With Butler missing a second game in a row with a sprained ankle, the Heat opened with Kevin Love and Haywood Highsmith at forward.

The Pistons’ bench made a difference, particularly Isaiah Stewart (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Beasley, who hit five threes on a 21-point night.

Cade Cunningham had 21 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds, while Jaden Ivey had 19 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Tobias Harris added 18 points.

▪ Terry Rozier continues to play poorly.

This assuredly isn’t the Rozier that the Heat thought it was acquiring when it traded a future first-round pick (and Kyle Lowry) to Charlotte last January.

Rozier entered shooting 40 percent from the field - his lowest since 2018-19 - and it only got worse with a 1 for 7 start.

He closed 3 for 14 on a 7-point night, even airballing a layup attempt at one point. When he nailed a corner three, it was waved off because he had stepped out of bounds. And he had the turnover late in overtime.

He shot 0 for 5 on threes.

His 14.3 scoring average would be his worst since 2018-19.

His 4.0 to 1.9 assist to turnover ratio is his worst this decade.

His defense was helpful at times, but Miami needs better play from its point guard.

▪ Adebayo finally showed signs of life offensively.

Adebayo didn’t even take a shot in seven first quarter minutes, suggesting Tuesday would be a continuation of his season-long offensive drought that has seen his scoring average plunge from 19.3 to 14.8.

Then he missed his first two shots – both very makeable - early in the second quarter.

But Adebayo closed the second quarter making four of five, including a three-pointer after beginning the season 4 for 22 on threes.

He delivered an electrifying dunk, off a feed from Robinson, putting the Heat ahead two with just under three minutes left in OT.

He closed 8 for 13 from the field on his 20 point night, with 12 rebounds and 3 assists.

A career 54.4 percent shooter, Adebayo entered shooting just 38.6 percent from the field.

He began the game shooting 14 for 45 (31.1 percent) on shots from 3 to 9 feet; 10 for 27 (37 percent) from 10 to 14 feet; and 0 for 5 on shots from 15 feet to the three-point line.

Spoelstra downplayed Adebayo’s shooting struggles during his pre-game news conference.

“He’ll be just fine,” Spoelstra said. “We’ll get through this stretch that’s a little bit noisy. I like the shots that he’s generating for us. it’s just one of those stretches. He’ll get it right. We’ll help him. He’ll be just fine.”

Beyond the offensive issues, Adebayo’s rebound average (8.8) is his worst since 2018-19.

▪ There were more bloody collisions than you see in most NFL games.

Two players departed with injuries that drew blood – Heat forward Nikola Jovic and Pistons guard Tim Hardaway Jr.

Jovic left for good with blood trickling down, just above his nose, after a head-to-head collision with Pistons center Duren. The Heat said he was diagnosed with a reduced septum.

“His nose was displaced,” Spoelstra said. “They were able to put it back.”

The Heat is now fitting him for a mask.

The game was stopped for several minutes early in the third quarter, when Adebayo inadvertently elbowed Hardaway Jr., who appeared to hit the back of his head on the court.

Hardaway, surrounded by teammates and Pistons staffers for four minutes, was bleeding from the top of his head and left in a wheelchair, a towel covering his head. The Pistons said he was being examined for a head injury.

▪ The Heat finished at a loss on the first night of NBA Cup group play competition.

Miami has a bracket that doesn’t seem particularly daunting, with Detroit, Milwaukee, Toronto and Indiana. But the Heat already finds itself in a hole, after failing to advance out of group play in the maiden NBA Cup last season.

Each team will play four group-play games — one game against each opponent in their randomly drawn five-team group from within their conference.

The Heat’s other three group-play games are Friday against the Pacers in Indianapolis, Nov. 26 against the Bucks in Miami and Nov. 29 against the Raptors in Miami. Group-play games will count as regular-season games.

That Pacers game on Friday will be the first of two games in Indy to close this six-game Heat road trip. Sunday’s game isn’t part of NBA Cup competition.

The winner of each of the six groups and two wild cards (the team from each conference with the best record in group play that finished second in its group) will advance to the knockout quarterfinal round.