MIAMI — Just when you think it can’t get any worse, the 2024-25 Miami Heat already, less than a third into their season, have shown a remarkable ability for it to get worse. Entering Saturday night, Erik Spoelstra’s team already had crafted a litany of losses seemingly unrivaled for a team still, somehow, afloat at .500: – There was the overtime loss in Detroit decided by Spoelstra calling the timeout his team did not have; – There was the overtime loss (this is not a repeat) in Detroit when an eight-point lead was blown in the extra period; – There were the losses to the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks when, off closing timeouts, the Heat were unable to even get off potential game-tying shots; – There was the one-point loss to Sacramento Kings when Domantas Sabonis converted a putback jumper with seven-tenths of a second to play to close the scoring. Each painful. Each with its own sobering reality. And then there was Saturday night in Orlando, when the Magic began the game with their top three players (Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs) sidelined, when the Heat’s lead crested at 25, when the advantage was 22 entering the fourth quarter. And then … Magic 121, Heat 104. The unfathomable proved fathomable. “These,” Spoelstra said, “are tough lessons that we all have to learn.” This teaching point, however, stands arguably as none other this season, arguably like few, if any, over the franchise’s 37 seasons. As a matter of perspective, in the wake of Saturday night’s loss that extended the Heat’s losing streak to three heading into Monday night’s game against the Brooklyn Nets at Kaseya Center, the Associated Press noted that NBA teams had stood 796-0 over the past five seasons when entering a fourth quarter up by 22 or more. Saturday night’s score was 106-84 entering the  fourth quarter. Yes, the Heat were without Jimmy Butler, who remained behind with a stomach illness.

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