Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra called a timeout, when he didn’t have any left, in the final seconds of an overtime loss to the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday in Detroit. Photo by Rhona Wise/EPA-EFE
Erik Spoelstra, who is widely known as one of the NBA’s top coaches, shouldered blame for a brutal timeout infraction, calling it a “serious mental error” in the final seconds of a Miami Heat loss to the Detroit Pistons.
Spoelstra called the timeout, despite not having any left to call, with 1.1 seconds remaining in overtime of the 123-121 loss in the NBA Cup matchup Tuesday in Detroit. The game was tied 121-121 at the time of his timeout call. Spoelstra stepped on the court after a game-tying dunk from Pistons center Jalen Duren and signaled to referees for the stoppage. Advertisement
Referees then gave Spoelstra a technical foul, leading to a go-ahead free throw attempt from Pistons guard Malik Beasley. Beasley sank that shot and the Pistons retained possession. The Pistons guard went on to make another free throw for the final point of the night. Advertisement
“There’s really no excuse for that,” Spoelstra said. “I’m 17 years in. We had talked about it in the huddle, I knew that we didn’t have anything. I just got emotional and reactive on that and I made just a horrendous mistake there at the end.
“It’s a shame.”
The anticlimactic ending spoiled what was a tight night at Little Caesars Arena. The game featured six lead changes and was tied six times. The Heat trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half, but outscored the Pistons 60-54 over the final 24 minutes of regulation to force overtime.
Heat guard Tyler Herro poured in 40 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter and overtime. He was 14 of 27 from the floor, including 10 of 17 from 3-point range. He also chipped in eight assists, five rebounds and four assists.
Heat center Bam Adebayo logged 20 points and 12 rebounds in the loss. Beasley and fellow Pistons guard Cade Cunningham scored 21 points apiece in the victory. Pistons forward/center Isaiah Stewart chipped in 13 points and 10 rebounds. Advertisement
Stewart gave the Pistons a 111-102 lead with 2:05 remaining in regulation. Herro answered with three pointers on three-consecutive Heat possessions for a personal 9-0 run, which prompted overtime.
The Heat and Pistons exchanged the lead several times throughout the bonus period. Herro hit a floater with two seconds remaining for a 121-119 Heat lead. Duren went on to make his dunk off an alley-oop pass from Cunningham on the next possession.
Spoelstra then signaled for the timeout that he didn’t have, resulting in the big blunder. Beasley proceeded to seal the victory for the home team.
“You don’t want it to come down to a mental error like that,” Spoelstra said. “Yeah, you would have just liked to see this go double overtime. That’s the kind of game it felt like.
“It deserved to go double OT and not have somebody get in the way of that, and unfortunately even as a veteran coach I got in the way of that.”
Earlier this year, rival general managers overwhelmingly voted for Spoelstra as the best coach in the league as part of an NBA.com survey.
The Heat coach received 69% of the votes, while Mark Daigneault (17%) of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Steve Kerr (7%) of the Golden State Warriors finished second and third, respectively, in that poll. Advertisement
General managers also voted for Spoelstra, a two-time NBA champion, as the best coach in 2023. Spoelstra, 54, owns a 754-533 regular-season record over his 17 seasons as Heat coach.
The Heat (4-6) lost four of their last five games. They will face the Indiana Pacers (5-5) in their next NBA Cup group stage game at 7 p.m. EST Friday in Indianapolis.
The Pacers will first face the Orlando Magic (6-6) in a regular-season game at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Orlando, Fla.
