Miami Heat Hoping New Addition Can Lead to Turnaround

A few hours after acquiring Victor Oladipo at the NBA trade deadline, the Miami Heat continued their recent struggles.

They lost 125-122 Thursday to the Portland Trail Blazers. Guard Damian Lillard hit three free throws with one second remaining after fouled by Trevor Ariza.

“That’s one of those plays that we’re going to disagree no matter how many times we talk about it," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "It is what it is. [The referee] saw it one way, we see it another way. I think it was a great game. Kind of a buzzkill way to end it. I think everybody wanted to see overtime. Lillard’s also a great player. He puts a lot of pressure on you 10 feet out, at the three-point line, he draws fouls. He’s clever. He presents a lot of different challenges when you’re trying to prevent him from getting a good clean look.”

Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 29 points and nine rebounds.

Here's what the Heat players had to say about the loss:

Guard Tyler Herro: “There was obviously a lot going on today, a lot of moving parts. First, I’m going to miss Silva, Moe, Avery and K.O. for sure. Welcoming those new guys when they get here, but tonight was a lot. Tough loss for us. I was happy the way we fought out there though. It was a great game. It came down to the stretch. They obviously came up with a couple more free throws than us.”

Forward Duncan Robinson: “We did some things well. We are not here for moral victories. We have to win games. There were definitely some encouraging things. Tyler played great. K-Nunn and Bam played great. Guys gave us really good minutes across the board. That was encouraging.”

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