Heat opening combination of Adebayo, Butler, Herro remains mired in mediocrity; Jaquez again out
MIAMI — It hasn’t quite reached the definition of insanity, not with such a limited sample size over these past 1 1/2 seasons.
But the Miami Heat have yet to show that the starting trio of Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro is a winning combination.
With Friday night’s 109-108 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at Kaseya Center, the Heat dropped to 5-6 in games with all three available this season and 31-31 over the past 1 1/2 seasons with all three in the starting lineup.
Included in those numbers is the current 1-2 run since Butler returned from a seven-game absence with a toe injury, the lone victory coming Monday night when the Nets’ Mikal Bridges missed a potential game-winning jumper just before the overtime buzzer.
For now, even as coach Erik Spoelstra tinkers with the rest of the lineup and rotation, to a degree out of necessity with rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. missing the past three games with a groin strain, there does not appear to be an inclination to reconfigure the Adebayo-Butler-Herro mix.
For their part, Spoelstra’s players view it as an ongoing work in progress.
“You get used to one guy being out there or two,” Adebayo said of the team’s rash of injuries to leading men this season. “And then with all three of us, we’re all trying to play the right way, but also trying to be aggressive. There’s going to be some rough patches, and you just need to keep working through it.’
The Heat are 93-49 with Herro playing as a reserve since he was drafted at No. 13 out of Kentucky in 2019. But since winning the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award in 2022, he has played solely as a starter in his 90 appearances the past two seasons.
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To Herro, it remains a work in progress, with Butler less than a week into his return.
“I mean just getting guys back into the rotation, figuring out a new way, not a new way, but just getting comfortable with everyone back in the rotation,” he said, with the Heat next turning their attention to Sunday night’s road game against the Orlando Magic. “Obviously, teams are doubling Bam and Jimmy every time they touch it in the post. So watch the film, make adjustments to our spacing. I think we’ll be fine.”
Out again
Jaquez did not travel and again is out Sunday, with the Heat then idle for two days before a back-to-back set of home games Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies and Thursday against the Boston Celtics.
Elsewhere on the Heat injury report, Herro is listed as probable with a strained right shoulder, with Duncan Robinson available with a sprained left ankle.
Jamal Cain and RJ Hampton remain away from the team on G League assignment.
The final play
Down one with two seconds to play Friday night, the Heat, off a timeout and inbounding on the right sideline, failed to get a shot off before time expired.
On the play, Caleb Martin inbounded in the right corner to Butler, who was well defended and passed back to Martin. Up-faking instead of shooting, Martin then released an errant shot after the buzzer sounded.
“I probably should’ve shot it, though, to be brutally honest,” Butler said. “I passed the ball to Caleb, and I put him in a terrible position.”
Spoelstra said the design failed his players.
“It’s one of those plays that when I’m going through it in my head, I’m thinking that there’s going to be an advantage in that corner, and it just didn’t play out that way,” Spoelstra said. “Two seconds left, so I really just wanted to see if (Butler) could get some space and shoot it over the top.
“That was a poor play call. I’m disappointed in my call on that. I had something else in mind.”
The Heat appeared to be attempting to run Robinson through a series of screens from the left sideline, coming to the ball, for a shot, but Martin released his pass early in the five-second count, even with the Heat holding another timeout.
On the play, Herro briefly broke free in the lane, but apparently only as a decoy.
“I wasn’t in the play to be able to get the ball,” he said.
Streak over
With Friday night’s loss to the Hawks, two extended Heat streaks came to an end. The Heat had won 22 consecutive home games against teams within the Southeast Division (Atlanta, Charlotte, Orlando, Washington), which had been the NBA’s longest current such streak against a single division. The loss also ended the Heat’s 9-0 start this season against the Southeast, a streak that stood at 10 going back to the 2022-23 regular season. …
With the Heat unveiling their 23rd starting lineup Friday, only Dallas, with 24, has opened with more this season. …
Cain, on a Heat two-way contract, had 16 points and 16 rebounds Friday night in a G League victory with the Sioux Falls Skyforce over the G League affiliate of the Boston Celtics. Hampton, who also is on a Heat two-way contract, had six points off the bench for the Skyforce.
