Inside The Heat

Miami Heat Snap Incredible Streak in Shocking Collapse to Orlando Magic

Jake Elman|
Dec 21, 2024; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony (50) controls a loose ball from Miami Heat guard Pelle Larsson (9) and guard Terry Rozier (2) in the third quarter at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Dec 21, 2024; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony (50) controls a loose ball from Miami Heat guard Pelle Larsson (9) and guard Terry Rozier (2) in the third quarter at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

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Miami Heat

Blowing a 22-point lead is bad enough for the Miami Heat. We probably don’t need to make them feel any worse. 

Too bad. 

Miami entered the fourth quarter Saturday night leading 106-84. They ended the fourth quarter with a crushing 121-114 loss to the injury-decimated Orlando Magic. 

“These are tough, tough-ass lessons to complete a game,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. 

The Associated Press reported teams with at least a 22-point lead entering the fourth quarter were 796-0 since Dec. 22, 2019. 

Teams are now 796-1 in that span. 

“Just a couple bad shots,” center Bam Adebayo told reporters. “And then I feel like we were relaxed because we were up.

“I feel like that’s the karma of the game,” Adebayo added. “You relax and then you let a team get hot, and it goes the other way. You’re trying to fight back.”

Miami became the first team since the Dallas Mavericks to blow such a lead. 

It gets worse. According to ESPN, the Heat had a 99.7 win probability at one point. 

Point guard Tyler Herro took responsibility for the Heat’s stunning collapse. Herro and Adebayo led the Heat with four turnovers. 

“It’s my responsibility to take care of [the ball] going down the stretch,” Herro said. “Making the right plays for us to win. So I’ll be better.”

Miami dropped to 13-13 with the loss. 

“It’s tough to get wins in this league … I think we [saw] that tonight,” Herro said. “Just the back and forth. You see it every night; there’s games like this.”

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Jake Elman works as a contributing writer to Miami Heat on SI. He can be reached at jakeelman97@gmail.com or follow him on X @JakeElman97.

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Jake Elman
JAKE ELMAN

Jake Elman is a veteran sports journalist and graduate of Florida Atlantic University’s journalism program. In recent years, he has covered the NFL for EndGame360 and served as the sports content lead for ExpressVPN. He also covered the Lane Kiffin years at FAU for the Palm Beach Post.

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