A week ago, the Miami Heat were a victory from moving into third place in the Eastern Conference, getting healthier, pointing to the upcoming run of home games that could further fuel their ascension.
Monday night at AmericanAirlines Arena they found a way to fall 111-109 to the NBA-worst Orlando Magic, losing starting power forward Kelly Olynyk for the night in the first quarter with a strained left shoulder.
In the latest of a series of how-low-can-you-go losses, the Heat this time blew an early 12-point lead to a Magic team lacking injured leading scorer Aaron Gordon.
"It's hard to explain what happened in that third quarter," coach Erik Spoelstra said of when the game turned. "The first quarter and the fourth quarter, obviously you love the way your team is competing and just laying it all out there to the end. I just don't have an explanation for that third quarter, very uninspiring."
With the Heat again unable to offer much in the way of deterrence, Orlando was led by the 20 points of replacement starting forward Mario Hezonja.
Guard Josh Richardson led the Heat with 20 points, with center Hassan Whiteside, back after missing Saturday's loss to the Detroit Pistons with a stomach ailment, adding 19 points and 14 rebounds.
But with the Heat's 3-point shooting off, there wasn't enough to offset the Magic's attack.
Closing the season series 2-2 against the Magic, the Heat recorded their sixth loss against the four worst teams in the East, when factoring in a pair of setbacks against the Brooklyn Nets as well as losses to the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks.
For now, the concern is the current four-game losing streak.
"We can't come in and try to change everything," Richardson said. "Just because we lost four in a row, we can’t come in like we're going change our whole offense or be too drastic. We just got to approach it like every other day and come in ready to work and fix what we’re doing wrong."
The game included a late video review of a shot by Tyler Johnson than initially was ruled a goal-tend for a 111-111 tie with 1.8 seconds to play. That call, however, was overruled upon video review, with the Heat then unable to get off a potential tying shot, Justise Winslow's inbound attempt deflected away by Magic center Bismack Biyombo.
"At that point," Spoelstra said, "it was a good move on their part, they put Biyombo on the ball. Regardless of who we would have had inbounding, he would have been on the ball. And he was able to deflect.
"At that point we had a couple of triggers right there. I don't think the first one was open, the second one wasn't open, and then if it was a clean pass, maybe something over the top for J-Rich."
By contrast, Whiteside again watched the finish from the bench.
"Coach went with the team that he wanted to get the win with and it's Coach's decision," Whiteside said. "I can't do nothing about that."I mean, how long I know Spo? About four years. So I don’t know. I really don't know. I don't know. It's hard to predict. It's hard to predict. It’s hard to gauge nowadays."
Olynyk also exited with questions, in his case about his shoulder.
"We just have to see how it reacts and evaluate it tomorrow and the next day and see what happens," he said. "Once it settles down, they can really kind of see what happens."
Olynyk was injured in a collision with Biyombo.
"Just trying to get through a screen," he said. "I didn't even see the replay. I had my left shoulder out and moved the screen into me and kind of popped my shoulder from behind."
With Whiteside back after missing Saturday's loss to the Detroit Pistons at the end of a four-game trip, the Heat unveiled their 17th starting lineup of the season.
This time Whiteside was in the middle alongside Saturday's other starters, replacing Bam Adebayo. That had Whiteside flanked by Olynyk at power forward, Justise Winslow at small forward, Richardson at shooting guard and Goran Dragic at point guard.
The Magic also had to adjust, with Gordon again out due to a hip injury. The Magic countered by going small, with Jonathan Simmons and Hezonja at forward, with Bismack Biyombo at center and Evan Fournier and Elfrid Payton at guard.
The Magic pushed their lead to 14 early in the fourth quarter before the Heat finally showed signs of life.
The Heat closed within 107-99 on a Winslow 3-point play but then couldn't further cut that gap when Wayne Ellington was off with a 3-pointer, falling to 0 for 9 from the field and 0 for 8 on 3-pointers.
But an Adebayo basket in transition then drew the Heat within 107-101, with Josh Richardson then also scoring in transition to make it 107-103. Richardson followed with a jumper in the lane to draw the Heat within 107-105 with 4:23 to play.
Simmons scored on a drive to open the Magic's lead to 109-105, countered by a Winslow tip-in on the other end. But again it was Richardson, this time with a driving layup to tie it 109-109.
A series of wayward shots followed before a Simmons dunk put Orlando up 111-109 with 1:31 left. Tyler Johnson then was off on a 3-pointer for the Heat with 76 seconds to play.
A Dragic turnover followed for the Heat, with the Magic dribbling down most of the clock before an Adebayo block left the Magic in possession up two with 14.6 seconds left in the game and 4.6 on the shot clock.
The Magic then turned the ball over on their ensuing inbounds attempt, leaving the Heat in possession down two with 13.3 seconds remaining and out of timeouts.
A missed jumper by Richardson and rebound scramble followed, with a goal-tend called on a shot by Tyler Johnson. That play then was reviewed with 1.8 seconds remaining on the clock.
The call then was overturned, with the Heat in possession with 1.8 seconds and still down two.
Without a timeout, Winslow's inbounds pass was deflected, ending the game.
After opening 0 for 12 on 3-pointers, the Heat finally got a conversation from Dragic early in the third period, but that also was with Jordan Mickey opening the second half in place of Olynyk, Mickey's first action since Jan. 3.
The Heat's defensive issues continued in the third period, with the Magic emerging with a 93-87 lead at the end of the period.
After trimming what had been a 12-point Heat lead to one, the Magic grew testy with the officiating, with Fournier and coach Frank Vogel called for technical fouls late in the second period.
The Heat missed all 12 of their first-half 3-pointers as well eight of 20 first-half three throws, leaving them up only 60-59 at halftime.
The Heat led 35-26 after the opening period, with an aggressive opening bent that included 14 free throws, nine points from Whiteside and seven from Adebayo. The Heat's 11 conversions from the line were their high for an opening period this season.
The Heat, however, lost Olynyk in that first quarter with his shoulder sprain, heading into the Heat locker room with the team orthopedist, sidelined the balance of the night.
Hezonja kept the Magic close with 11 first-quarter points.
It was the fourth and final game of the season series. The Heat lost the first matchup on opening night 116-109 in Orlando and then won 107-98 Dec. 26 at AmericanAirlines and 117-111 Dec. 30 at the Amway Center. The Heat had lost four in a row to the Magic before those two victories.
The game was the first at home for the Heat since Jan. 27 and the start of a three-game homestand, one of five remaining games before the All-Star break.
The Heat, however, entered with victories in five of their previous six home games.
It was the lone road game for the Magic over a six-game span and opened a back-to-back set for them that concludes Tuesday at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers, with Gordon also ruled out for that game.
The Magic were coming off Saturday's 115-98 home loss to the Wizards, when no Orlando player scored more than 15 points.
The Magic entered having lost four of five.
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