The Miami Heat have gotten their NBA Cup campaign off to a rough start after losing 121-123 to the Detroit Pistons in OT. The blame for the loss will fall squarely on Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra’s shoulders, as Spo received a technical foul with the game tied in OT (121-121, 1.1 second left) for calling a timeout after the team ran out of them.
Erik Spoelstra calls for a timeout despite the Heat being out of timeouts
Detroit wins the game at the line
(via @FanDuelSN_Heat)
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) November 13, 2024
He was visibly emotional while talking about the moment in the post-game press conference.
“I just made a serious mental error there. That;’s on me. I feel horrible about it, there’s really no excuse for that. I’m 17 years in, we talked about it in the huddle. I knew we didn’t have anything. I got emotional and reactive on that and I made a horrendous mistake at the end. It’s a shame cause we really fought back.”
“You don’t want it to come down to a mental error like that. Yeah, we would’ve liked to see this go 2OT. It deserved to go to 2OT and not have someone get in the way of that, but unfortunately, even as a veteran coach, I got in the way of that.”
Spoelstra holding in tears:
“No excuse for that. I'm 17 years in. We talked about it in the huddle I knew we didn't have anything.
I got emotional & reactive on that. I made a horrendous mistake at the end. It's a shame cause we really fought back."
Heartbreaking ending 💔💔 pic.twitter.com/C9EmVGtzim
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) November 13, 2024
Tyler Herro had a sensational performance, ending the night with 40 points (14-27 FG), eight assists, and four steals to lead the Heat in Jimmy Butler‘s absence. Bam Adebayo put up 20 points (8-13 FG) and 12 rebounds. Duncan Robinson had a big night with 14 points (6-16 FG), six rebounds, and four steals while Jaime Jaquez also put up 14 points (6-9 FG).
The Pistons were led by a team effort, with Cade Cunningham putting up 21 points (6-15 FG), seven rebounds, and nine assists while Malik Beasley came off the bench to add 21 points (7-17 FG) as well. Jaden Ivey scored 19 points (8-18 FG) while also grabbing nine rebounds and dishing seven assists. Tobias Harris (7-15 FG) had 18 points and seven rebounds, with three other players also cracking double-digit points.
This loss was costly for the Heat as it opened their NBA Cup schedule with a loss. They are seeded in East Group B alongside the Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers, and Toronto Raptors.
Their season record is 4-6 now, but the franchise won’t be too worried. They are just 1.5 games behind the No. 3 seed in the Conference and this incident could spark something in the franchise as they look to climb up the standings. Unfortunately, this loss does mean they’re technically behind the 5-7 Pistons.
Miami will now head to Indiana for consecutive matchups against the Pacers, with NBA Cup implications on the results as well.
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