Heat-Pistons Takeaways: Terry Rozier Once Again Struggles In Defeat

Bryan Townes | 21 Hours Ago

Nov 12, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) celebrates in overtime against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

The Miami Heat (4-7) blew their victory with less than three seconds left against the Detroit Pistons (5-7) 121-123.

Here’s a look at four major takeaways from the matchup:

1. Tyler Herro put the team on his back.

Not only is Herro the Heat’s best player, but he is the only player responsible for keeping the team in these games. He finished with 40 points, eight assists, and five rebounds on 51.9 percent shooting and 58.8 percent from three-point range. Without his career-high 10 threes, it is hard to imagine the Heat even getting an opportunity to win this game. As for Herro, the All-Star conversations are only getting stronger.

2. Terry Rozier struggles once again.

Although the Heat have only played 10 games, Rozier has yet to play well or up to his standards in most of them. He finished with seven points, two rebounds, and five assists on 21.4 percent shooting from the field and missed all of his three-point attempts. Beyond missing easy layups and not making any of his threes, the worst part of his game was stepping out of bounds three times for turnovers. One was on a three-point shot he made that would have counted had his foot not touched the sideline. Conversations about whether the Heat made the right move acquiring him will start to ramp up if his level of play doesn’t increase.

3. Bam Adebayo played very well.

After not even getting up a shot in the first quarter, Adebayo made up for it in the next three. He finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and three assists on 61.5 percent shooting and made his only three-point attempt. One of his rare good games this season also felt like Spoelstra ruined it because Adebayo had a monster alley-oop dunk in the overtime period, where he was fouled and made the free throw.

4. Erik Spoelstra’s shocking error costs the Heat the victory.

Before that faulty timeout call and inbound pass, everything felt like the Heat had the game in the bag. Herro just made what would have been a winning shot, and the Heat had the momentum. However, several errors were made by the all-time great coach. Spoelstra wanted to get Kel’el Ware in the game to defend the inbound pass and later decided against it. It was a questionable decision because he had already subbed out Duncan Robinson for more defense in Pelle Larsson. Ware should have replaced Rozier. It led to an easy inbound pass over Herro to Jalen Duren for a wide-open dunk. Spoelstra then called a timeout, which the Heat did not have.

Bryan Townes is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at btownesjr@gmail.com or on X @bryantownesjr11. Follow our coverage on Facebook.