Miami's Offensive struggles return in loss to the Indiana Pacers

The Miami Heat's winning streak ends at two as they lose 101-99 to the Indiana Pacers at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse to fall to 4-6. This was another frustrating game to watch as the Heat just couldn't put it all together on the offensive end and shot a putrid 38.7% from the field and 28.2% from three point range.

The team was once again without Jimmy Butler, who is still dealing with a hip injury. The absence of our star player was certainly going to make things difficult, but this team is far too talented to look the way they have offensively to start this season. They have scored just 108.1 PPG as a team, which ranks them near the bottom of the league at 26th. Not at all what was expected when the front office was talking about how they would be leaning towards offense with this version of the Heat.

It has been far too inconsistent from various key players on this team and it's hard not to instantly think about Kyle Lowry. He finished the game with 10 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block while shooting 1-of-9 from the field. While he did go a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line, his ability to hit shots in the half court has just not been there. On the season, he is shooting 37.8% from the field and 32.3% from beyond the arc. That would be his lowest overall shooting percentage since his rookie season. Plus, his 5.6 assists that he's averaging so far this season is the lowest since the 2009-10 season. The decline that we were all hoping was a year or two away is here now and this team, as currently constructed, can not overcome it. Like I've said more than once, I am someone who can appreciate the little things Lowry provides any team he plays on, but for $30 million a season we need more.

Now on a more positive note, the Heat did get solid production from the young core of Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Max Strus and Gabe Vincent. Bam and Gabe were dealing with foul trouble for most of the game, so their impact wasn't felt as consistent as both Tyler and Max. Bam finished the game with 18 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and one steal, however as was the case for both him and Tyler they couldn't protect the ball very well committing five turnovers each. Both of them need to do a better job of taking care of the ball especially when that means less time with the ball for Jimmy and Kyle.

Need to give Tyler his flowers with how he was able to become the focal point of the offense with Kyle struggling to get anything going. From the start he was mixing his game up with floaters, pull-up jumpers and contested finishes and he ended up with a game-high 29 points on 8-of-20 shooting to go with five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Very solid all-around game from Herro, but his defensive game is still going to need to improve, if he is going to put himself in a higher tier.

When I look at the team stats, I can't help but be encouraged by two things. First, our free throw shooting has been elite. The Heat are shooting 87.7% from the line as a team, which is good for no.1 in the association. That is a great sign of a good shooting team, so I believe the shooting percentages will eventually tilt back into the Heat's favor. Second, this team has done a great job of taking care of the ball and an even better job at forcing turnovers. They average 14.1 turnovers a game (10th in NBA) while forcing 16.5 turnovers a game (3rd in NBA). These two stats show that at it's core this team is solid and can get the job done.

Unfortunately, what this team can't overcome is their lack of size and physicality. That is plain facts that the front office needs to address if they want to take this season seriously. They have to feel the same way when they are watching the likes of Caleb Martin (6'5'') or Kyle Lowry (6'0") get switched on to Myles Turner (6'11") and have to defend him in the painted area. Turner would literally just shoot over the top of them on his way to an efficient 7-of-9 shooting for 16 points. The lack of size forces this team and it's guards to overcompensate, which has now made them one of the worst teams at defending outside shooting.

The Miami Heat now return for a four-game home stand, which will be a great opportunity to get back on track. It can also be seen as one of the most important stretches of the entire season as the Heat need to get back to .500 by the end of it if they want to become serious players in the Eastern Conference. The home stand begins with a Monday matchup with the Portland Trailblazers, who will be looking for some revenge after we handed them their first loss of the season over a week ago.