Crunching the meager shooting percentage numbers is one way to explain why the Heat is getting squashed in crunch time of tight games during its current five-game losing streak.

The Heat is shooting 29.7 percent in the past five fourth quarters, compared to 43 percent over the first nine games. Poor execution of the fourth-quarter offense must partly fall on the shoulders of starting point guard Anthony Carter; however, in Friday's 96-87 loss to the Hornets, the Heat missed 10 straight shots as Charlotte went on a game-ending 15-6 tear.

Seven of those attempts were spring-water clear looks that didn't fall as the Heat made only 6 of 18 in the final 12 minutes.

"The other night it was make or miss, that's all," coach Pat Riley said after practice Sunday. "Sometimes it comes down to a make-or-miss thing and not to an execution thing. Against New York, it was an execution thing."

More disturbing is that Heat guard Eddie Jones, who craves the go-to-guy status that elite players assume, took only one shot in 10 minutes (0 for 1) of the fourth quarter Friday. And in Thursday's 83-74 loss to the archrival Knicks, Jones made just 1 of 5 in the final quarter in which the gang that couldn't shoot straight missed 15 of 18 shots.