Three observations from the Miami Heat’s 105-102 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night at Kaseya Center.
1. Tyler Herro’s defense needs to be better
You could argue that Herro has been Miami’s MVP this season. He’s an All-Star. He’s had a great year and has miraculously transformed into one of the league’s most efficient scorers. That’s all great. But the defense remains a work in progress.
Because of his size, Herro will never be a great defender. He got torched at the point of attack in Miami’s loss against the Chicago Bulls over the weekend. That’s going to happen. But that means Herro needs to be locked into what he can control and show more attention to detail. In Monday’s fourth quarter, for instance, Herro fell asleep on this possession that led to Miles Bridges’ go-ahead 3-pointer. Rather then step up to avoid LaMelo Ball’s (very obviously) incoming screen, he gets pushed off his spot and allows Bridges an open look.
2. Kel’el Ware flashing
It wasn’t a good game for the Heat’s rookie center. Ware was out-muscled most of the night by Mark Williams and Jusuf Nurkic. That should be expected. But the bright spot of his game might have also been one of the more impressive plays of his season.
In the first quarter, Ware intercepted a pass with his long right arm, ran the floor, attacked Charlotte’s scrambling defense and found a cutting Andrew Wiggins with a drop-off pass.
3. Erik Spoelstra drawing something up
After the Hornets scored 14 straight in the third quarter, the Heat needed a bucket. Coming out of a timeout, Erik Spoelstra drew up this misdirection play to get Duncan Robinson his first 3-pointer of the game.
It starts like a run-of-the-mill pistol action that typically flows into a dribble handoff for Herro. Instead, Herro pitches the ball to Bam Adebayo, then sets a down screen for Robinson, who curls over Herro’s screen and takes the handoff from Adebayo. It completely fools Charlotte's defense.
You can’t say Spoelstra isn’t trying.
