How Heat’s inability to stay healthy is having a corrosive effect, more so that last year

The team that cannot stay healthy also has become the team that cannot sustain a good thing.

Just as Miami started winning and seemed poised for a stretch of being mostly whole, three more starters were sidelined this week. And Tuesday’s result thus wasn’t especially surprising: a 113-103 home setback to the reeling Chicago Bulls.

So for the Heat (16-16), that’s five home losses (in 11 games) this season to teams with losing records, seven losses in 16 home games overall and a continued inability to get their full team together.

On Tuesday, it was Jimmy Butler (gastrointestinal illness), Kyle Lowry (left knee soreness), Caleb Martin (sprained left ankle) and Gabe Vincent (knee impingement) who were missing.

Lowry has missed three games in a row and his return date is unclear. Martin and Vincent worked before the game and their returns could be nearing.

But if there’s anything this season has proven, it’s this: The Heat doesn’t have enough quality depth to survive multiple key injuries.

Though Miami is 7-5 without Butler, his absence was at least partly the difference in losses against the now sub.-.500 Pacers and losing teams Washington, Detroit and Chicago.

The Heat lost to Toronto and Washington without Adebayo and went 3-5 in Tyler Herro’s absence. Miami has two losses to losing teams without Martin, whose presence is more important than ever following P.J. Tucker’s July departure.

On Tuesday, Erik Spoelstra’s bench options - at least the ones he used - including Duncan Robinson, Dewayne Dedmon (who entered the week with the NBA’s fifth-worst plus/minus of any player on a team at .500 or above), and Jamal Cain, who was summoned from the G-League showcase in Las Vegas earlier in the day.

There also was a 12th different starting lineup in 32 games, something that Herro admits has created challenge.

“Anytime there’s different guys in the lineup, there’s always an adjustment,” Herro said. “From game to game, different guys are out. It’s never the same guys.”

The injury-prone nature of the roster shouldn’t be a surprise, considering the age and injury histories.

Victor Oladipo, who appeared in his seventh game on Tuesday, has played in just 95 over the past four years because of knee problems.

Lowry has missed only four this season, but has played in 65, 46 and 63 in the past three seasons not shortened by COVID. Butler has played in 59, 65, 52 and 67 in his last four full 82-game seasons.

The difference from last year is this Heat roster is less equipped to compensate for those injuries, with Max Strus (who is 17 for 70, 24 percent on threes over his past 10 games) and Dedmon struggling, the team’s three-point shooting down dramatically and Tucker now in Philadelphia.

Does Oladipo feel disappointment that the team never seems to be whole? “Honestly no,” he said. “You have no control over that. When the time is right, the time will be right. When we all be together, we will all be together.”

The Heat’s on/off numbers show how much the Heat misses Butler, Adebayo and Herro when they’re not together. That trio has missed 23 combined games:

▪ When Butler, Adebayo and Herro are on the floor together as a trio, the Heat has outscored teams by 74 points this season. They’ve been outscored by 110 when those three aren’t all together.

By comparison, the Heat last season outscored teams by 28 points when Butler, Adebayo and Herro were on the court at the same point, but outscored teams by 337 when they weren’t.

▪ When Butler is on the court, the Heat is scoring 115 points per 100 possessions. Without him, it’s 103.7 per 100.

▪ With Adebayo, it’s 112 per 100 when he’s on the court, 102 when he isn’t. With Herro, it’s 110 to 105.

Absences of any of the three have been difficult to overcome, especially when there has been regression around them, aside from much-improved Haywood Highsmith and Martin.

“No excuses and figure out a way to win,” Oladipo said.

THIS AND THAT

▪ Spoelstra said he preferred not to start Oladipo on Tuesday but needed to because three starters were out. He played 34 minutes, his most in his eight games back this season.

“It’s an adjustment,” Oladipo said. “I ain’t been starting or playing big minutes. I went out there and played as hard as I could for as long as I could.”

Spoelstra said: “I wouldn’t have done this with Victor [starting him] if we didn’t have two days after the last game and two games before the next one. I want him to continue to have confidence in his role off the bench, which he has done a great job with.”

Oladipo continues to contribute defensively and in other areas, but the offensive game remains somewhat rusty: He’s shooting 40.4 percent and 9 for 32 on threes (28.1).

He said he’s not aware of any minutes restriction. “I feel really good,” he said. “When I’m asked to do more, I’ll be ready.”

▪ Perhaps most exasperating has been the play at home, which hasn’t been significantly better than at home.

Miami – 9-7 at home and 7-9 on the road – has shot threes better on the road (38.1 to 34.5 percent at home) and combined for more steals/blocks on the road (12.5 to 9.8).

“I felt like our disposition on the road was much higher than [Tuesday’s loss to the Bulls at FTX Arena],” said Herro, whose team had come off a 4-0 road trip. “We had a level of urgency and were connected on the road.”

Before Tuesday’s game, Spoelstra said: “Our homestands have not gone the way we wanted them to. We want to make this a tougher place for teams to visit.”

It didn’t happen Tuesday. Indiana (Friday), Minnesota (Monday) and the Lakers (Wednesday) are next up on this homestand.

▪ Quick stuff: Adebayo has scored 72 of his past 74 field goals in the paint…

With 799 career threes, Robinson is seven short of equaling Tim Hardaway’s career franchise record…

Highsmith, who had 18 points and four steals against Chicago, is shooting 48.5 percent on threes over the past month (16 for 35). What’s more, Highsmith is allowing the player he’s guarding to shoot 37.6 percent, seventh best in the league (minimum 50 shots defended).