Heat Wrap Up Tough Road Trip In Utah
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SALT LAKE CITY (CBSMiami/AP) – An extremely tough road trip is finally coming to an end.
The Miami Heat are struggling during a road-heavy portion of the schedule.
They'll conclude a five-game trip Friday night against a Utah Jazz team that just ended a lengthy skid by beating the club that defeated Miami in the NBA Finals in June.
The Heat (10-12) are finishing a stretch of seven away games in an eight-game span, and after getting past lowly New York to open that stretch, they've lost five of six.
Miami beat Phoenix 103-97 on Tuesday to end a four-game losing streak but shot a season-worst 36.6 percent the next night in falling 102-82 to Denver. The game was tied at halftime before the Nuggets outscored the Heat 31-14 in the third.
"By the end of the third quarter it just started to get too far into the double digits," coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We just didn't have enough juice. Whether it's because of (Tuesday) night or the competition or whatever, we didn't have enough."
Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade totaled 24 points - they combine to average 42.3 - and Wade attributed the team's poor performance to playing in the high altitude.
"This is the worst back-to-back in the league," Wade said. "You come in to see what you can do. You try to come out and compete. We did that for a half and then it got away from us in the third quarter. It was one of those games."
Miami hasn't played well in Utah, either, averaging 94.7 points during a three-game slide. The Heat are just below that number on the road this season (94.5) to rank 24th in the NBA.
The Jazz (6-16) snapped a nine-game skid Tuesday with a 100-96 victory over visiting San Antonio. The starters led the way as Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter, Trey Burke and Alec Burks combined for 75 points.
Utah made at least half of its field-goal attempts for just the fourth time and first since shooting a season-best 51.4 percent in a 102-100 road win over the Knicks on Nov. 14.
"We've been due for some guys to hit some shots," coach Quin Snyder said. "As long as we share the ball, that's the most important thing. Live with the result. I'd rather have that. On the whole, you eventually get what you want if you're unselfish."
The Jazz are last in the NBA with an average of 28.4 points allowed in the second quarter, and they gave up 33.8 in the period over their previous four games before outscoring the Spurs 23-21.
"We didn't get down by 20 points tonight, which has kind of been our calling card," Hayward said. "Being able to stay in the game with a team like this was huge for us."
The Jazz are looking to win back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 24-26. They are 10-37 since then.
"Having your work and your effort and your direction affirmed with a win is a good thing," Snyder told the team's official website. "... I just want us to keep playing. We're playing to get better - that's how I see it."
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