Palm Beach Post MIAMI ? AmericanAirlines Arena was lifeless and dull Saturday night, which made it the perfect place to house the Heat's baffled offense and its bewildered defense. A smallish crowd (the arena was about one-fourth empty even though the game officially was a sellout) watched in amazement as Miami struggled for the second consecutive night with its basic offensive and defensive principles. The Heat suffered an 82-72 loss to Charlotte a night after losing 101-91 to Memphis in San Juan, Puerto Rico. "It's hard to believe we could have played much worse than (Friday), but we did," coach Stan Van Gundy said. In both games the Heat (1-2) sputtered, wheezed and gasped as it tried to get its game going. But turnovers and defensive lapses have been the only constants in this pair of maddening weekend showings. "This is hopefully rock bottom," Van Gundy said. Miami's 25 turnovers Saturday means it has committed 69 turnovers in three exhibition games, and it has eclipsed the 20-turnover mark each night. The ball isn't being whipped around the court to the open man, or to the weak side. Miami, which only had 10 assists against Charlotte, instead is stopping at a couple of passes. "Everybody's trying to go 1-on-1," Van Gundy said. The team's designated shooters ? forward Jason Kapono and guard Matt Walsh ? combined to go 1-for-2 from the field in about 27 minutes, and Kapono took both of those shots. "I wish I knew (what's wrong)," said guard Jason Williams, who had three assists and three turnovers. "We just have to keep working to get better." Forward Udonis Haslem, who was 1-for-9 from the field and committed five turnovers, added: "It's frustrating because we expect a certain level of play of ourselves." On the positive side, forward Antoine Walker (11 points, seven rebounds) had a good night, especially running the floor with the ball and without. Guard Dwyane Wade (18 points, five turnovers) probably had his best moves of the exhibition season, calling on both his trademark crossover dribble as well as his knack for getting to the rim. Source
