The Miami Heat missed another chance to reach with the .500 mark with their 98-94 loss to the New York Knicks on Friday.
Miami fell to 37-39 with the loss and missed out on some history. The Heat have had multiple chances now to reach .500, but have been unable to do so. If Miami can reach an even record, it would become the first team in NBA history to do so after being 19 under earlier in the season.
Despite the loss, Miami retained possession of the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. The Heat are only a half-game ahead of ninth place Chicago however and missed a golden opportunity to create some distance with this defeat.
The Knicks were without both Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose, which makes this loss even tougher to accept for Miami. The Heat need every win they can get at this point and the Knicks are simply playing out the remainder of their schedule. New York was recently mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.
Hassan Whiteside did all he could to help Miami win, with his 17 points and 16 rebounds. Whiteside also had a pair of blocks in his 34 minutes. The double-double was just one more in a season full of them for the center. Whiteside had one big moment that did not go Miami's way in the final seconds of the loss. The center was called for a goaltending violation that negated a game-tying basket from Goran Dragic.
Tyler Johnson and James Johnson combined for 27 points off Miami's bench, as the team once again showed strength in depth. The Heat have relied heavily on their reserves this season and those players have done the job on a daily basis. The production from the bench has allowed head coach Erik Spoelstra to keep his starters well rested all season long.
Miami will try to return to the win column when it hosts the Denver Nuggets on Sunday at 6:00 p.m.
