It was perhaps the most painful loss for the Miami Heat this season.
After playing so well the past week, they blew a 10-point lead with less than five minutes remaining Saturday against the Washington Wizards. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak.
“This did not feel like the other games, at all," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Yes, we were in control, but it was a close, possession game those last six minutes and then you have to make some plays.”
Forward Jimmy Butler said the Heat may have gotten a bit overconfident after receiving so many compliments for their recent play.
“I think when everybody’s giving you all this praise all the time, you think you deserve it, you think that you’re supposed to be talked about like that,” Butler said. “And that’s not the case.”
Butler led the Heat with 29 points and Tyler Herro added 20.
“This league is very humbling, it’s fragile,” Butler said. “And just as soon as, think you’re good and you’re high on yourself, you get hit like this. I don’t think that we should have lost this game. We did. We say yeah, we learn from it, we go to the drawing board. But I’m hoping this is the last time that it happens, but I can’t guarantee that.”
The Heat return to action Tuesday at the Detroit Pistons.
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