Erik Spoelstra made a series of mistakes within seconds that proved costly for the Heat, who lost to the Pistons in overtime.
There was a shocking moment when the Heat blew a two-point lead with less than two seconds left in overtime, but there was an even bigger mistake on Spoelstra's part as he tried to call a timeout — even though Miami didn't have any left. Despite that.
This earned the Heat a technical foul, and the Pistons' Malik Beasley sank a free throw to give the Pistons the lead with 1.1 seconds left.
Spoelstra then subbed Kevin Love in for a full-court pass, only to realize the ball still belonged to the Pistons.
In the end, Beasley hit another free throw and was fouled again.
“In the end I made a serious mental mistake there.” Coach Spoelstra told reporters after the game:. “It's my responsibility. I feel horrible about it. There's really no excuse for it. I'm 17 years old and we talked about it in a gathering. What we don't have is I knew [any timeouts]. This caused me to react emotionally and ended up making a terrible mistake. ”
Ironically, Jalen Rose was in the game, and the broadcast showed his reaction after Miami's head coach made a critical timeout mistake.
When the camera panned to Rose, she looked completely shocked.
Perhaps he was having flashbacks of a missed timeout while playing in the 1993 national title game at the University of Michigan.
The ESPN personality was a member of the “Fab Five” team that lost to North Carolina in that year's championship game. It was a timeout that the Wolverines didn't have because Chris Webber called a timeout.
However, the Heat players seemed willing to forgive Spoelstra's mistake after the game, with Tyler Herro calling him “one of the greatest coaches of all time.”
“It happens. Great players make bad plays.” the hero said. “He made a difficult decision. It was an intense moment and high emotions that went back and forth on both sides throughout the game.
“Sometimes you get caught up in it, but he gave us the win in the last game. We accept that, no matter what, we ride with Spo.”
