The Detroit Pistons‘ last-minute victory over the Miami Heat featured experienced coach Erik Spoelstra, who, in his 17th season, made a shocking mistake that cost his team the game in the final seconds of the 121-123 NBA Cup loss.
It’s not often that a franchise loses through the direct fault of its coach. The Little Caesars Arena witnessed Spoelstra call a timeout when he was out of commands. At that point, with 1.8 seconds left in the game and the score tied, the referees called a technical foul on the Heat. Pistons point guard Malik Beasley took advantage of the gift and sealed the final lead.
“I made a serious mental mistake at the end. It’s my fault. I feel horrible about it, I was emotional and reactive,” Spoelstra admitted of his critical mistake in the Heat’s loss to the Pistons. His bad call denied his team a chance to win the game in overtime.
The Miami Heat are 4-6 on the season and have lost four of their last five games. Spoelstra’s team debuted with a loss in the NBA Cup and will have a chance to bounce back from Tuesday night’s tough loss when they host the Indiana Pacers next Friday.
Spoelstra lamented Heat’s failure to make it to double overtime
“Yeah, we would have liked it to go to double overtime. That was the way it felt. It deserved to go to double overtime and nobody got in the way of that and unfortunately, even as a veteran coach, I got in the way of that,” Spoelstra said.
“I have been in the team for 17 years. We talked about it at the pre-race meeting, I knew we had nothing. I made a terrible mistake in the end. It’s a shame,” the Miami Heat coach said, admitting that he felt very guilty about the defeat.
Tyler Herro was the great figure of Miami Heat
Despite the last-second loss to the Pistons, Herro was the game’s leading scorer with 40 points in 42 minutes, adding eight assists and five rebounds. The Heat point guard continues to put together performances that make him one of the best players in the NBA.