National Basketball Association

Loss to Rockets gives Heat early season lesson to learn from

Published Nov. 5, 2014 12:05 a.m. ET

foxsports

MIAMI -- It's a grueling 82-game NBA season, and for a Miami Heat team still searching for its identity, Tuesday's loss to the Houston Rockets may in the long run help more than the season-opening, three-game win streak did.

With Dwight Howard dominating inside and the Rockets shooters spreading the floor and knocking down 17 3-pointers, the Heat's defense broke down far too often to turn the tide. Chris Andersen and Udonis Haslem could have helped them in the paint, but the perimeter defense was at times nowhere to be found as Trevor Ariza, James Harden and Patrick Beverley kept punishing their defenders for laying off of them.

The Heat roster may feature several new faces, but these issues aren't exactly new. Many teams, including the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals, used this strategy to great effect against the Heat's movement-heavy defensive scheme during the Big 3 era. But how this version of the Heat will counter this inside-outside game remains to be seen.

"They're correctable," Chris Bosh said of the team's issues. "Our rookies were out there and the game was moving fast for them. We had very, very uncharacteristic mistakes when we cut it to three and that just can't happen, not against a good team like that where every possession is very valuable. But it's a good learning experience for us. I'm glad guys are making mistakes now so we can learn from them and we don't make those same mistakes going forward."

Bosh was a non-factor in the first half due to foul trouble but led the final charge that fell short with the team scoring just 14 points in the fourth quarter. For each positive offensive play where the Heat cut the lead, there was a negative defensive sequence that resulted in good looks for the Rockets shooters.

"That's very deflating," he said. "That's the areas where we're going to have to get better at because championship teams, they're going to make a stand. They're going to make a shot and it's going to be in your face."

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra understands there will be a big learning curve for his roster, which features a mix of returning players, veterans new to the team and rookies getting their first taste of NBA basketball. But above all, he seemed mostly distressed over the mistakes that cost his team in crunch time.

"It was probably more mental breakdowns than anything else physically going down the stretch," he said. "I think it was 80-80 and we just had some unusual mental breakdowns going down the stretch defensively giving them some open looks."

Spoelstra used the phrase "mental breakdown" several times in his postgame comments to the press. Had the team buckled down and protected the 3-point area in the final minutes of the game, then the outcome might have been different.

"We had some mental breakdowns really that led to four threes where we literally weren't guarding anybody," he said. "We were matched up against the wrong guy and [there was] miscommunication. Those were three or four [plays] that were not even system-related."

"For us to really make strides we can't have that happen no matter who's on the court," Bosh said. "We're going to have to give guys contested shots, keep them off the free-throw line and run them off the 3-point line. Our coverages, guys aren't used to them yet. When we're scrambling, guys are going to the wrong places right now. We just have to get used to the system and just take this one on the chin and move on."

Whether it was system-related or simply miscommunication between new teammates, the good news is that it's very early into the season with plenty of time to improve. The Heat are also still incorporating Josh McRoberts into the fold and reserve players Danny Granger and Haslem have yet to suit up in the regular season.

"We knew that this year coming in, we were going to have to learn on the fly a lot," Bosh said. "So this is a good lesson for all of us unfortunately. Sometimes you're going to look bad while you're learning but as long as we learn from it, that's the most important thing."

You can follow Surya Fernandez on Twitter @SuryaHeatNBA or email him at SuryaFoxSports@gmail.com.