Heat Blown Out in 4th Straight Loss

The Miami Heat reached a new low on Saturday in a lopsided 115-79 loss to the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center.

With the defeat, Miami is now six games under .500 for the first time in the Erik Spoelstra era. The Heat had also not lost a game by 30 or more points since 2012.

At 14-20, Miami remains in eighth place in the conference standings but is barely hanging on. Ninth place Indiana is only a game back after its recent win over Miami. The Heat are currently closer to last place in the conference than first place after going 3-7 in the last ten games.

With the game out of reach, the Heat rested the starters more than usual. That gave Spoelstra a chance to see more action from his reserves. Even Andre Dawkins saw some time on the court for the first time since November. Dawkins who had spent some time in the D-League had no points and an assist in his nine minutes.

Hassan Whiteside continued to open eyes and made the most of the opportunity. In 20 minutes, Whiteside had 14 points and six rebounds. The exciting rookie also blocked two shots and had become a regular in the rotation as of late. This was the second game in a row that Whiteside was on the court for 20 minutes.

Three-pointers continued to plague Miami with the team going only 4-17 from long range in this one. Three throws also have been a problem for the Heat in several games and this was no exception. Miami was only 15-25 from the charity stripe with Whiteside being the biggest contributor of misses.

Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh did not play in the fourth quarter and ended up with 15 points each.