Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The Heat’s frustrating season came to an end in the Play-In Tournament

The Heat were iced in overtime by the Hornets in Charlotte and sent to the draft lottery. They went most of the game without their captain, Bam Adebayo, thanks to LaMelo Ball cheaply and flagrantly taking him out by swiping his foot while he was off balance, causing him to fall hard on his tailbone. Yet they held on until the last seconds. 

Kel’el Ware and Davion Mitchell stepped up being inside and outside threats, and Andrew Wiggins did all the little things in the trenches while giving them a big-time scoring punch. They even had Wiggins at center, next to Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Pelle Larsson to maintain their speed, and they defended well without fouling plus didn’t get killed on 3-pointers. 

Jaquez started the second half for Adebayo, setting the mood with aggression. Additionally, Ware turned into Bill Russell for a spurt, rejecting shots into transition, and Mitchell was the source of offense in the fourth quarter. 

Their problems were containing second-chance scoring and dribble penetration from Ball, plus Coby White’s 3-point eruption. On top of that, they made a critical mistake late in the fourth quarter while up six points by doubling Ball, allowing Brandon Miller to nail a trifecta before White made a fallway shot in the corner to tie. 

The Hornets controlled the pace in overtime, exposed the corner and baseline and didn’t miss a shot in the lane late. But it was all drama: Herro made a fallaway corner triple and then caused Ball to foul him in the corner immediately on the next possession when the Heat got a steal. They took the lead by one, but Ball reclaimed it for Charlotte on a curling catch-and-go move, and then Mitchell got denied on a last second fastbreak attempt by Miles Bridges.

The Heat lost 127-126 after 17 ties and 16 lead changes. One would’ve presumed that it was going to turn into a blowout without Adebayo’s presence, but they went down with class. Their worst stretch of the game was getting outscored by eight in the third quarter.

The Hornets will now play the loser of Wednesday’s seven and eight game, and the Heat are left pondering their future. If this season proved anything, it’s that they need to get better on defense by being bigger, stronger and faster. 

Ware can be a top-level big man with more seasoning. The next step for him is sharper pick-and-roll defense, so he and Adebayo can be a potent duo. 

Mitchell resembled vintage Kyle Lowry in the loss, and he has always been a keeper, who should remain the starting point guard. The prerequisites for taking that spot are superior scoring without help and on-ball disruption. 

Some will depart, and the right youngsters will continue to develop; the team should continue to ride it out with them instead of trading for an All-Star who will have to do more with less. They’ll now also have their highest pick since either 2019 (13th) or 2017 (14th), at least, in what is expected to be a deep draft.

They need to realize that there is no quick fix into getting back into contention, unless Shaquille O’Neal, the Big Three or Jimmy Butler walk through the door.