Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier shared an uplifting message as he works through some struggles with his shot at the beginning of his Heat tenure.
Rozier shot just 7-for-17 from the field in Miami’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night. As a team, the Heat finished with just 95 points.
“I can’t hit a jump shot,” Rozier said following the team’s loss on Sunday.
Rozier isn’t wrong, as he’s struggled shooting the ball from beyond the arc since he was acquired from Miami in a trade with the Charlotte Hornets.
In seven games with the Heat (six starts), Rozier is shooting just 7-for-32 from 3-point range (21.9 percent). He went 0-for-5 from 3 against the Clippers and is a combined 0-for-11 beyond the arc in his last two games.
Still, Rozier is staying positive, as he is more focused on the team’s success rather than his own individual play.
“I don’t try to get too much into myself. I’m a team player,” Rozier said. “You look at the end, you worry about wins and losses. I’m not happy that we got the L today. But like I said, I’m my toughest critic. I just got to keep on putting the work in and it’s going to fall for me.”
The Heat acquired Rozier hoping that he would give the offense a boost this season. Miami is just 23rd in the NBA in offensive rating and 27th in points per game in the 2023-24 campaign.
The team moved off of struggling veteran point guard Kyle Lowry to bring in Rozier, but the former Hornets guard has not gotten in a groove yet on offense.
After averaging 23.2 points per game across 30 contests with the Hornets, Rozier is averaging just 11.7 points per game for the Heat and shooting just 32.9 percent from the field since the trade.
While Rozier hasn’t gotten things going scoring the ball, he’s still provided the Heat with some solid playmaking at the guard spot. He’s averaging 5.4 assists per game with the Heat.
As for his shooting slump, Rozier knows that he needs to keep trusting himself and his jumper.
“Part of it is you just got to keep shooting it,” Rozier said. “Shoot yourself out the slump.”
Rozier and the Heat will get a chance to bounce back from the loss to the Clippers on Tuesday night when they take on the Orlando Magic.
This is a big game for the Heat since they are just one game back of Orlando in the Eastern Conference standings. Miami currently holds the No. 8 spot in the East with a 26-24 record.