SAN ANTONIO -The Heat ended 2009 the same way it started the year. And that wasn't a good thing.

Far from it, actually. After opening the year with a double-digit loss to Orlando on Jan. 2, the Heat closed out the year with its worst loss of the season in a 108-78 setback against the Spurs.

Remember that stretch of good play that resulted in a 5-1 run for the Heat? Well, it collapsed. The Heat (16-14) has dropped two in a row on its two-game road trip, with disappointing losses at New Orleans and San Antonio. On Wednesday, the Heat showed some fight in coming back from a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter before falling to the Hornets.

On Thursday, the Heat spent much of the night as a bystander. The Spurs ran away from the Heat in the second quarter and went all Usain Bolt on Miami in the second half. Just like what transpired after the 28-point loss at home to Memphis last month, Spoelstra took an awful long time to emerge from the locker room to meet with the media after this one.

And also just like after that game, he hinted that changes might be on the horizon after he speaks with his players at length to analyze what has gone so wrong so quickly again for the Heat.

D. WADE'S DOINGS: There was nothing productive about Wade's night. He missed 12 of 18 shots from the field and 4 of 5 from three-point range. He also squandered half of his free-throw attempts. And that wasn't even the worst part of his night. He had a season-high seven turnovers, unable to force his way through an opponent's trapping defense. And to top off the night, he tipped the ball into the Spurs basket on a bucket that had to be credited to Tim Duncan. He closed with 16 points in 29 minutes, tossing in the white flag after the third quarter.

TURNING POINT: The Spurs used a 8-0 run to open the third quarter and would outscore the Heat 28-13 to build on their nine-point halftime lead. Balance was the key for San Antonio, with Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili all shooting well above 50 percent from the field. The Heat had no answers. And then when Roger Mason and George Hill started to get going, it turned into a rout.

LOSING EDGE: Through three quarters, the Spurs were 18 of 20 from the free-throw line. The Heat was 4 of 8. The attempts sort of evened out at the finish. But this was clearly a case of two things. The Spurs got plenty of calls early and the Heat just wasn't as aggressive.

HEAD-SCRATCHER: It's hard to fathom. But after scoring 20 points in the first 20 minutes of the game, Michael Beasley might have gotten a bit of the Michael Jordan treatment from that 1985 All-Star Game. Remember the Freeze Out? It's hard to argue against the evidence for a stretch in the second quarter of Thursday's game. After opening 7 of 15 from the field in the best half of his career, Beasley didn't attempt another shot over the final five minutes once Wade re-entered with 5:01 left. Wade, Jermaine O'Neal, Carlos Arroyo and Quentin Richardson shared all eight field goal attempts the rest of the half. Beasley swung the ball to the weak side, rebounded and ran plays. But he didn't shoot, or really get a chance to shoot. This comes just hours after Beasley said he'll take a more selective approach to the advice he accepts from teammates and speak his mind more amid Wednesday's on-court feud with Richardson in the loss at New Orleans. I'm no conspiracy theorist. But you had to scratch your head at how the half played out. San Antonio didn't defend Beasley any differently. I still say it's all coincidence. I think. Right? But file this under Arsenio Hall's category of Things That Make You Go Hmmm. Full disclosure, Wade passed to Beas on the first play of the second half for a missed jumper. So there goes that theory, right?

KEY CONTRIBUTION: It's a shame Beasley's night had to end like this. He honestly had no clue why things sort of went away from him after this one. But he was 12 of 21 from the field for one of his most productive and efficient efforts of his two-year career. There's gotta be an explanation coming somewhere.

NEXT UP: Bobcats at Heat, Saturday 3:30 AmericanAirlines Arena (Tickets still available)

(For live news, notes and updates on the Heat, follow me on Twitter @ twitter.com/wallacesports. To post a question or join our live Heat chat each Thursday from 1-2 p.m., click here.)

NEW ORLEANS - Honestly, the Heat probably should have never been in this one at the finish, considering the way things started. Yet still, Miami was right there.

The Heat overcame a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter and led 88-87 with a minute left. But it finished the way it started, and the Hornets avoided a major collapse at home to hold off the Heat 95-91 on Wednesday at New Orleans Arena.

The Heat (16-13) took a slight step back after having won five of its past six games, including three in a row entering the matchup with New Orleans. The Hornets (14-16), meanwhile, remained hot at home, having won their fourth consecutive game at The Hive.

The Heat was at its inconsistent best Wednesday. At times, there was a smooth low-post game flowing through Jermaine O'Neal. There was Carlos Arroyo finding his stroke on the way to 11 points, one off his season high with the Heat. There were clutch shots and on-the-spot plays from Quentin Richardson. There was Beasley banging early with David West.

But there were also uncharacteristic mistakes. Plain, dumb mistakes. Dwyane Wade's turnovers. O'Neal's inability to even jump for the jump-ball to start the game. Players challenging one another and pointing out mistakes on the court. You name it.

Still, there was a chance at the end to pull out a win on the road. It just wasn't meant to be. The Heat essentially played its way out of the game, back in it again, and then out of it at the finish.

D. WADE'S DOINGS: Hard to imagine, but Wade only had nine field goal attempts through the first three quarters and didn't find much breathing room until the fourth. Wade finished 7 of 13 from the field, 7 of 10 from the free-throw line, for 22 points. He also had six assists, but matched his season high with six turnovers. There were a few moments of fierce frustration. Wade dug into his team a bit after the game for his supporting cast's inability to consistently capitalize on New Orleans' trapping defense. "We've seen every trap there is," Wade said afterward, before pointing out how his team had "no focus" at times in the game. "We let them play their game," Wade also said. Regardless, six turnovers are six turnovers.

TURNING POINT: There were plenty of those. But the final turn in the final minute made the difference. Chris Paul carved up the Heat's defense with his pick-and-roll execution. He's a wizard with the ball. And he made the Heat look silly in finishing with 18 points and nine assists. Paul split the defense and found David West on the baseline for the jumper that gave New Orleans the lead for good with 53.4 seconds left.

LOSING EDGE: This game was decided on the slimmest of margins. Look at the stats, and it's almost even across the board. Both teams had 78 field goal attempts. Both made 7 threes. Both made 20 free throws. But the Hornets made two more shots than Miami. As Wade also said, "We gave ourselves a chance to win. They just made a few more shots."

HEAD-SCRATCHER: With six minutes left in the third, Beasley and Richardson were jawing at one another near the bench while the coaching staff met briefly out on the floor after a timeout. Beasley was replaced less than two minutes later and would only play six seconds in the fourth quarter. Six seconds. Wow. Richardson, Beasley and Jermaine O'Neal each had moments on the court when they were frustrated after West or Emeka Okafor or someone else in a Hornets uniform grabbed an offensive rebound or scored on a back-door cut. But Richardson was animated in the first few seconds of that timeout, and then Beasley appeared to be defending himself. After the game, Beasley acknowledged that the exchange was partly about defensive breakdowns and the other part was to figure out why there were times when "nobody acted like they wanted to play." It was hard to figure out who was right and who was wrong. But the fact that Beasley stepped up and spoke out with pride and emotion was a good step. Coach Erik Spoelstra always talks about healthy controversy.

KEY CONTRIBUTION: Arroyo was aggressive. He was 5 of 10 from the field for 11 points in one of his better-scoring games of the season. He also had three assists without a turnover. Among his biggest shots were a pair of jumpers in the second half during the Heat's rally from that 16-point deficit. He played 26 minutes and took another big step toward maintaining the starting job on merit. Unfortunately for Arroyo, he also had the assignment of trying to stay in front of Chris Paul. Let's just say that in the fourth quarter second half, CP3 left Arroyo's ankles feeling like jelly. Still, it was a supporting performance from which Arroyo can build.

NEXT UP: Heat at Spurs, 7 p.m. Thursday AT&T Center

(For live news, notes and updates on the Heat, follow me on Twitter @ twitter.com/wallacesports. To post a question or join our live Heat chat each Thursday from 1-2 p.m., click here.)