The Miami Heat will play in the postseason but are struggling.
Miami, which will visit the Washington Wizards on Friday night, has lost 10 of its past 13 games. That stretch includes a 128-114 home loss on Thursday night to a Toronto Raptors squad that is 4-0 against the Heat this season.
All that losing has left Miami (41-39) in 10th place in the Eastern Conference with two games left in the regular season. The Heat have clinched a spot in the play-in round but have left their coach, Erik Spoelstra, perplexed about their slump.
“It’s sobering,” said Spoelstra, who led Miami to NBA championships in 2012 and 2013. “It’s humbling. I don’t have answers right now.
“We’re searching. We went through everything (on Wednesday). We had a productive shootaround (prior to the Toronto game). But we got outclassed again.”
Spoelstra said defense is his team’s biggest problem. During this 3-10 stretch, one of Miami’s wins came against Washington, which has the NBA’s worst record at 17-63.
But even against the Wizards, Miami didn’t play well defensively, winning 152-136 on April 4.
“Three weeks of really poor defensive games are overwhelming what we’ve done the rest of the season,” Spoelstra said, attempting to explain how Miami has fallen to 22nd in the league in average points allowed (118.5). “It’s about committing to doing tough things. Each night is a great challenge. It’s not easy to defend in this league.”
The Wizards are 29th in the league in points allowed (124.7). They are also 25th in offense (112.9).
In other words, not much has gone right this season for the Wizards, who will enter Friday’s game on an eight-game losing streak. Only Utah has a longer active skid, 10 games.
The Wizards, who haven’t won since beating the Jazz on March 25, are 6-34 on the road this season. Overall, they have lost 24 of their past 25 games.
And while Washington fans no doubt are focusing on the NBA Draft Lottery that will determine the top four picks in this year’s selection process, Wizards players must finish the season.
That may exclude Alex Sarr, who is averaging 16.3 points and 7.4 rebounds. Sarr missed Thursday’s 119-108 loss to the visiting Bulls due to a toe injury.
“It’s unlikely that Alex comes back this season with the short amount of time we have left,” Wizards coach Brian Keefe said.
Sarr is one of 10 Wizards on the injured list. Perhaps that diminished lineup was one reason why Heat guard Tyler Herro was upbeat when asked about Friday’s game against Washington.
“We should be able to win (on Friday),” Herro said. “We just have to stick with it and continue to fight. We’re not going to give up.”
Herro also was asked about Spoelstra’s strategy.
“We’ve tried a lot of things (to break the slump),” Herro said. “I’m sure ‘Spo’ will think of (more things). I know he’s not giving up either.”
