Miami Heat Are A Mess Without Goran Dragic

The Miami Heat have been without starting point guard Goran Dragic for four games and the results have been disastrous thus far.

The Miami Heat returned home to face the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night, and the result was similar to the outcomes they experienced on their six-game road trip; they were throttled. The short-handed Heat were unable to keep up with the Bucks, who defeated them 91-79.

The game wasn’t as close as the score would indicate, as the Bucks wore the Heat down in the second and third quarters.

A big reason for the Heat’s struggles against the Bucks and at the tail end of their road trip has been the absence of Goran Dragic. The starting point guard injured his calf against the Golden State Warriors last week and was sent home from the road trip for tests on his calf. He missed the remainder of the trip and the game against the Bucks, and the results have been a disaster.

The big issue throughout the season thus far has been Dragic and Dwyane Wade struggling to co-exist in the same backcourt. They both are at their best with the ball in their hands, so there has been an adjustment period throughout the first half of the season.

While it has been difficult at times, those two trying to work through their problems is better than what the Heat have been enduring with Dragic sidelined.

In the four games that Dragic has missed, the Heat offense has been abysmal. They are averaging only 84.3 points per game in that stretch despite playing only one team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, that ranked in the top half of the NBA in points per game; the Thunder were 10th in the NBA prior to the completion of Tuesday’s games, giving up 100 points per game.

The Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers are both ranked in the top seven in opponents’ field goal percentage, but there is no excuse for not scoring against the 20th-ranked Bucks. Also, the Clippers were without their defensive anchor in DeAndre Jordan and are still playing without Blake Griffin, yet they ran the Heat off the court.

The Heat did score 98 points against the Denver Nuggets for their only win without Dragic, largely on the shoulders of Hassan Whiteside, who triple-doubled with 19 points, 17 rebounds and 11 blocks.

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Coincidentally, the Heat were without Wade in the game against the Nuggets and it was the only one they have won without Dragic in the lineup. Wade hasn’t played particularly badly without Dragic in the lineup, but the Heat have gotten the doors blown off of them in the games that he has played in and won the game that he sat out.

With Beno Udrih also going down with injury, the Heat have been forced to use Wade more as a facilitator and Tyler Johnson as the starting point guard.

It has crippled the second unit, as they do not have a player to facilitate their offense and Johnson is being forced into a role he is not perfectly suited for; he is better off the ball as a combo guard with the capabilities of running the offense, not being the main facilitator.

The Dragic injury has had a trickle down effect for the Heat, as it not only weakens the starting lineup because he is not in it, the bench is being hurt as well. The Heat will be embarking on another five-game road trip with a lot of uncertainty in their backcourt and poor results coming as an outcome.

Dragic will travel with the team on the trip, but says that he is still without a timetable to return. He is listed as doubtful and is more than likely already out for Wednesday night’s game against the Washington Wizards.

Next: Takeaways From Heat Six-Game Road Trip

The Heat will hold out hope that he can return against the Toronto Raptors Friday as they need him to return sooner than later or else they will watch themselves continue to plummet in the Eastern Conference standings.