Heat are letting fourth-quarter leads, playoff spot slip away

The Heat lost to the Charlotte Hornets, 105-102, after Miles Bridges scored 10 of his 35 points in the final two minutes. It's the Heat's fourth straight loss, even though the team led during the fourth quarter in all of those games.

The Heat fell to 29-35, though they've only been outscored by an average of half a point per game. Based on that point differential, Basketball Reference gives the Heat an expected record of 31-33, a big difference when seventh-10th place in the Eastern Conference are separated by just four games.

The biggest factor could be the absence of Jimmy Butler, a player whose tough defense combined with his preternatural ability to get to the foul line makes him an invaluable player late in close games. Since the Heat suspended Butler in advance of trading him to the Golden State Warriors, Miami is 9-18.

For the season, the Heat have lost nine times in games where they led by 15 points or more. It could be the team's lack of depth, compounded by prioritizing expiring contracts over helpful players in the Butler trade. They're getting only 11.6 points per game and 30.5 percent three-point shooting from last season's big acquisition, Terry Rozier, and the team lacks shooting and playmaking beyond All-Star Tyler Herro.

Even their normally meticulous head coach, Erik Spoelstra, blew a close game in November by calling a timeout he didn't have.

The Miami Heat generally pride themselves on their culture, toughness and playing the right way. This season, those qualities have been absent late in games. It might cost them a playoff spot.