Overview
- Cleveland routed Miami 149-128 in a rematch this week in what Erik Spoelstra called "extremely disappointing" and "unacceptable," setting a franchise high for points allowed.
- Two weeks after sitting as a top-four defense, the Heat now rank ninth overall and 28th over the last seven games, giving up 124.9 points per 100 possessions, according to Cleaning The Glass.
- Miami has dropped six of its last seven games and posted the league’s sixth-worst net rating across that span.
- With fewer than 10 games left, the Heat are about two games back of the East’s No. 6 seed, which increases the chance they land in the play-in round.
- Despite getting healthy, the preferred starting five of Davion Mitchell, Tyler Herro, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, and Bam Adebayo has been only average on defense with a 115.4 rating.