There were no jokes after this one.
No Dwyane Wade laughing with teammates in the locker room. No LeBron James talking about how another loss "wasn’t the end of the world."
This one hurt, and the Miami Heat players let their frustrations out after a 106-95 loss to the Dallas Mavericks Saturday at American Airlines Center. They held a players-only meeting that lasted about 45 minutes after the Heat fell to 9-8 on the season.
"It was a well-needed team meeting where everybody had an opportunity to get off what they had on their chest or what they had in their head about us figuring things out," James said. "Right now, we are a 9-8 team and we have to own up to that Right now, we’re at 9-8 because we’ve been playing like that."
James, who scored a team-high 23 points, and Wade refused to disclose what was said. It capped a night where emotions ran higher than ever for the Heat. There were moments where players and coaches were seen arguing during timeouts. During the middle of the Mavs’ decisive 13-0 run to start the third quarter, it appeared James bumped shoulders with Heat coach Erik Spoelstra as he walked toward the bench.
Spoelstra downplayed the incident when asked by reporters. He did say emotions were high and the entire team was frustrated at times.
"That’s the way it should be," Spoelstra said. "I think we all were (frustrated) I think we all were in timeouts and that’s the way it should be. This shouldn’t be fun out here and it was painful to go through a third quarter like that, and if guys feel that pain, good. I want them to."
The loss was the Heat’s sixth straight to an opponent with a current record above .500. They are now 1-7 against teams with winning records, continuing to show they remain a work in progress.
The same continuity and chemistry issues from training camp and preseason are still present. No play illustrated that better than when James and forward Chris Bosh attempted a pick-and-roll in the third quarter, where the Heat were outscored 31-17. A miscommunication resulted in James throwing the pass out of bounds, leaving both players with confused looks on their faces.
"It’s tough because I know the potential of this team," said Wade, who finished with 22 points and nine rebounds. "I know the visual that I had when this team was put together. Like I’ve said, my championship team was 10-10. I’ve been a part of it when it’s great and I’ve been a part of being in Miami when it’s not so great."
After the game, frustrations were evident. James made a beeline to the locker room without the rest of his teammates. He said the post-game meeting was the first step in turning things around.
"Just know that we had some deep things to say to one another that got out," James said. "We needed it."
