Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 116-107 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night at Kaseya Center to close its three-game homestand at 1-2 and fall back to .500.

The Heat (21-21) now hits the road to begin a two-game trip on Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks: The Heat couldn’t overcome the absence of its most consistent and reliable source of offense, even as it went up against one of the NBA’s worst teams. With its leading scorer Tyler Herro missing his first game of the season because of a groin injury, the Heat’s offense couldn’t keep up with … the team with the league’s fourth-worst offensive rating this season.

After making seven of its first nine three-point attempts on Tuesday, the Heat missed 19 straight threes on the way to one of its worst losses of the season. The Heat’s defense wasn’t much better, as a usually bad Trail Blazers offense exploded for 97 points on 52.2 percent shooting from the field and 14 of 32 (43.8 percent) shooting on threes through the first three quarters before scoring just 19 points in the fourth quarter. The Heat’s defense — at its best when its being disruptive and forcing turnovers — forced no turnovers in the first half and just three turnovers through three quarters while struggling to contain the Trail Blazers’ paint attacks.

“We mentioned that at halftime — we didn’t force one turnover, they had zero turnovers, a ton of drives, in transition, just attacking the half court versus our man or zone,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We’re at our best when we’re disruptive. Again, you don’t need analytics to know when we’re at our best. You can see it, you can feel it, you get inspired by it. And through three quarters, that wasn’t it.”

The Trail Blazers (15-28), which entered the game with the NBA’s seventh-worst record and with losses in five of their previous six games, played with a lead for the entire second half. The Heat led by as many as 10 points in the first quarter and entered the second quarter with a four-point advantage. But the Trail Blazers won the game in the next two quarters, outscoring the Heat 63-39 over the second and third quarters to enter the fourth period with a big 20-point lead. The Trail Blazers’ lead ballooned to as large as 27 points in the second half.

After falling behind by 22 with 8:38 left in the fourth quarter, the Heat made a late push with the lineup of Jaime Jaquez Jr., Pelle Larsson, Duncan Robinson, Nikola Jovic and Kel’el Ware on the court. This five-man group played the entire fourth quarter for Miami. The Heat went on a 19-4 run to cut the deficit to just seven with 1:58 to play. “I was subbing, getting deeper into the rotation, just nothing really seemed to take hold until we got to that last group,” Spoelstra said, referring to the Heat’s fourth-quarter lineup that made a late surge.

“That was probably the most inspiring group.” That’s the closest the Heat would get, though, as the Trail Blazers held on for the nine-point win. Anfernee Simons (24 points on 6-of-12 shooting on threes) and Deandre Ayton (22 points and 15 rebounds) led the Trail Blazers, combining for 46 points. Robinson scored a team-high 22 points for the Heat on 6-of-12 shooting from three-point range. The Heat is now 5-17 this season when its opponent scores more than 110 points. “We knew the scouting report. They’re a downhill team,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said of the Trail Blazers. “I feel like we just didn’t lock into the tendencies and also understanding that we have to compete for 24 seconds every time we’re on defense. We can’t shortcut anything. It’s hard to win in this league anyway. We coughed one up.”

Herro missed his first game of the season on Tuesday, but he’s hopeful that his absence won’t extend beyond that. After waking up Tuesday with pain in his groin, Herro was held out of Tuesday’s loss because of right groin tightness. But Herro said he doesn’t believe the ailment will keep him out for long, expressing optimism that he’ll be able to return for the Heat’s next game Thursday against the Bucks in Milwaukee. Considering Herro played in each of the Heat’s first 41 games before missing the 42nd game on Tuesday, his durability this season has been impressive after being called “fragile” by Heat president Pat Riley this past offseason.

Herro entered this season with the goal of staying healthy and being available for more games after missing 40 of the Heat’s 82 games last regular season and never playing in more than 67 regular-season games during the first five seasons of his NBA career. Along with being available for all but one game this season, Herro is averaging career-highs in points (24 per game), rebounds (5.7) and assists (5) this season. He’s also shooting a career-best 47.8 percent from the field and a career-best 40.7 percent from three-point range on a career-high 9.6 three-point attempts per game this season.

Along with missing Herro, the Heat was also without Keshad Johnson (left shoulder inflammation), Josh Richardson (right heel inflammation), Dru Smith (left Achilles surgery) and Isaiah Stevens (G League) against the Trail Blazers. Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers were missing Toumani Camara (illness), Donovan Clingan (left ankle sprain), Taze Moore (G League), Kris Murray (chest contusion), Rayan Rupert (G League) and Matisse Thybulle (right ankle sprain) against the Heat.

Two days after unveiling the Kel’el Ware-Adebayo frontcourt, the Heat stuck with it to open Tuesday’s game with the double-big look. With Herro out, the Heat opened Tuesday’s game with the lineup of Terry Rozier, Robinson, Jimmy Butler, Adebayo and Ware. It marked the ninth different starting lineup that the Heat has used this season. After logging just one minute together through the Heat’s first 40 games of the season, Adebayo and Ware played 13 minutes together in Sunday’s win over the San Antonio Spurs. The Heat dominated the Spurs 36-13 during that stretch, with Adebayo playing as a starter and Ware still playing as a reserve in that game. Following that eye-opening debut, the Heat started Adebayo and Ware together for the first time on Tuesday.

The Adebayo-Ware frontcourt again was effective, as the Heat outscored the Trail Blazers 20-14 through the first 6:16 of the contest before Adebayo was subbed out. But the Adebayo-Ware look didn’t produce positive minutes in the second half, as the Trail Blazers outscored the Heat 11-6 during the first 4:15 of the third quarter before Ware was subbed out. At the end of Tuesday’s loss, the Heat was outscored by five points in the 13 minutes that Adebayo and Ware played together against the Trail Blazers.

Adebayo, a three-time NBA All-Star, finished the loss with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes. He didn’t play in the fourth quarter. Ware, the Heat’s first-round pick in the 2024 draft, recorded 20 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field and 2-of-6 shooting on threes, 15 rebounds and two blocks in 39 minutes for the second double-double of his NBA season. “We’ll figure it out,” Adebayo said of starting alongside Ware. “He’s one of the young guys that really wants to soak in information and learn.

So for us and me, it’s just bringing him along and helping him figure it out because as you all can see, he’s a talent in this league.” The Suns made a trade just before the start of the Heat-Trail Blazers game that seems to put them in a better position to land Butler. But Butler was available and played for the Heat on Tuesday … while wearing sneakers in the Suns colorway. Just minutes before tipoff between the Heat and Trail Blazers, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Suns traded their 2031 first-rounder to the Utah Jazz for three first-round picks.

In the trade, the Suns acquired the least favorable first-round picks in 2025 of the Cleveland Cavaliers/Minnesota Timberwolves, in 2027 of the Cavaliers/Timberwolves/Jazz and in 2029 of the Cavaliers/Timberwolves/Jazz.

Before this deal, the Suns had one just one tradeable first-round pick. After this trade, the Suns now have three tradeable first-round selections. This gives the Suns more assets, as they continue to pursue a trade for Butler. According to a league source close to the situation, Tuesday’s trade is one of the steps that the Suns needed to take to have a chance to trade for Butler. While Butler is now back with the Heat after a drama-filled few weeks that included a trade request and a team-issued suspension, his thinking hasn’t changed.

Butler still wants the Heat to trade him ahead of the NBA’s Feb. 6 trade deadline, according to league sources. The Heat is working on trying to make that happen, as it continues to listen to trade offers for Butler. But even as the Suns appeared to move closer to a potential trade for Butler, he was in the Heat’s starting lineup on Tuesday. In Butler’s third game back from suspension, he recorded 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field, 1-of-1 shooting on threes and 4-of-4 shooting from the foul line, four rebounds and eight assists in 27 minutes in the Heat’s loss.

Like Adebayo, Butler also didn’t play in the fourth quarter. “I know what you’re trying to get out of me,” Spoelstra said when asked about Butler’s underwhelming effort on Tuesday. “You’re not going to get anything worthwhile. It was not a very inspiring first three quarters by the whole group. So it’s tough to pinpoint one person in that.” The Heat is 1-2 since Butler returned from his suspension. With Haywood Highsmith moved out of the Heat’s starting lineup, he played limited minutes off the bench on Tuesday. After starting in 32 of the previous 33 games, Highsmith was moved to a bench role with Ware making his first NBA start on Tuesday. In Highsmith’s first game as a reserve since a Dec. 21 loss to the Orlando Magic, he played just four minutes off the bench in the Heat’s loss to the Trail Blazers.

Highsmith entered Tuesday averaging 24.9 minutes per game this season. “I actually talked to him about it, that sometimes when things are fluid and they’re moving fast, sometimes things happen and it’s not at all an indictment or an indication of how you’re playing,” Spoelstra said of Highsmith’s fluctuating role ahead of Tuesday’s game. “He’s an example of that. He’s had really important minutes and his role is important for us. He just has to stay with it. We all believe in him, we all know his importance. And as we figure things out, his minutes will likely be more consistent.” This story was originally published January 21, 2025 at 10:01 PM.