Erik Spoelstra Admits He Made 'Horrendous Mistake' That Cost Heat vs. Pistons

Spoelstra took full accountability for the 'serious mental error.'

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra looks on during a November 10 game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second half at Target Center. / Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Two-time NBA champion and Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, a veteran in his 17th season pacing the sidelines, on Tuesday made a rookie mistake in the final seconds of the team's 123-121 loss to the Detroit Pistons in a group-play game of the NBA Cup at Little Caesars Arena. Trailing by two points with 1.8 seconds left, Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, out of an inbound, lobbed an alley-oop to center Jalen Duren, who slammed the ball home for the game-tying basket just as Spoelstra called for a timeout that the Heat didn't have.

Spoelstra was assessed a technical foul, and Pistons guard Malik Beasley sank the ensuing free throw, giving Detroit a late lead the club would not relinquish.

After the game, Spoelstra took accountability for the mistake that led to Detroit's victory.

"I made just a serious mental error there at the end," Spoelstra said. "That's on me. I feel horrible about it."

Unwilling to make excuses, Spoelstra explained that he had became "emotional and reactive" to the Pistons' inbounds play, and he lamented the fact that the decision cost his team a chance at another overtime period, and potentially a win.

"There's really no excuse for that," Spoelstra said. "I'm 17 years in. We had talked about it in the huddle, I knew that we didn't have anything. I just got emotional and reactive on that and I made just a horrendous mistake there at the end. It's a shame."

"You don't want it to come down to a mental error like that," Spoelstra added. "Yeah, you would have just liked to see this go double overtime. That's the kind of game it felt like. It deserved to go double OT and not have somebody get in the way of that, and unfortunately even as a veteran coach I got in the way of that."

Heat guard Tyler Herro, who scored a game-high 40 points in the loss, had Spoelstra's back, though.

"Spo is one of the best coaches ever. It happens," Herro said. "Great players make bad plays. Great coaches sometimes, he made a tough decision. It was an intense moment. Sometimes, you get caught up in that. He won us the game last game. We ride with Spo no matter what."

The Heat will next play in another group-play game on Friday against the Indiana Pacers.

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