National Basketball Association

The Miami Heat is still searching for its closer

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The mantra for the Miami Heat this season will be ball movement and teamwork, but who gets the ball when its time to close?

It was in the bag, they had it. Up 19 points in the third quarter, it seemed Miami was on its way to a smooth, home-opening victory.

Then Charlotte happened, and the Heat was extinguished.

Kemba Walker scored 24 points and Jeremy Lamb added 16 as the Hornets stormed back on the road to defeat Miami, 97-91. Hassan Whiteside scored tallied 20 points and 15 rebounds and Goran Dragic added 14 for the Heat, who struggled mightily down the stretch as the Hornets led 29-point turnaround.

After dropping 55 points by halftime, Miami managed to muster up an anemic 34 points on 12-for-43 shooting in the second. That’s a mere 27.9 percent rate.

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The difference was quite simple: Charlotte has a proven closer in Walker. While inconsistent with his shot at times, there’s no doubt in any fan or analyst’s mind where the ball is going down the stretch. Miami is void of that luxury at this moment, and that could cause significant problems down the road for a team that’s made the postseason in seven of the last eight seasons.

The guy Micky Arison just paid $98 million? Was sidelined for much of the fourth quarter due to early foul trouble. That $89 million point guard that was inked last offseason may be more composer than soloist. Can Dion Waiters be relied on in the fourth? Justise Winslow, Luke Babbitt? Pardon my language, but hell no. Not even close (in the case of Winslow, not yet at least).

Walker, who’s had a knack of playing well down the stretch since his UConn days, couldn’t have said it any better:

”We’re resilient,” Walker boldly stated.

Indeed they are. Even during Charlotte’s seven-game first round defeat at the hands of the Heat, the Hornets proved exactly how mentally tough of a group they are, pushing Miami to the brink of elimination.

That very resiliency will elude this version of the Heat until they find that “go-to” guy. Someone that can right the ship during a big run, someone to galvanize the team during down times, and in this case, an individual a coach can rely on consistently in the fourth quarter. Wade, James and Bosh aren’t walking through those AmericanAirlines Arena doors, and a “blockbuster” trade for Rudy Gay would not solve anything.

It doesn’t help put fans at ease that in his debut with the Chicago Bulls, Dwyane Wade sank his fourth three-pointer of the game with 26 seconds left to ice a win against the Boston Celtics.

For the Heat, it should be one of those two guys who both warrant maximum pay. You don’t receive checks that size for losses, especially ones like this. Of course, when your franchise point guard shoots 33 percent from the floor, that won’t help either.

On Sunday, the Heat will face a Spurs team that gracefully handed the crown from Tim Duncan to Kawhi Leonard, who is having a monster season early. The transition from the Big 3 to this rebuilding state wasn’t graceful, nor was it necessarily planned.

I may be wrong, and only time will tell, but aside from longevity and continuity, this Miami roster is missing a major piece. Whether that void will be filled by a member of the active roster remains to be seen.

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