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Not only did the Miami Heat lose Tuesday for the ninth time in their last dozen games, but the defeat sent them into the play-in tournament for the fourth season in a row.

The Toronto Raptors blew out the Heat, 121-95, dominating in every facet of the game. Miami’s once-solid defense has collapsed in the last month and left them sitting in 10th place in the season’s final week.

Miami Heat are on a treadmill of mediocrity

The Heat were one of the NBA’s elite teams at the beginning of the decade, making trips to the Finals in 2020 and 2023 and losing in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022. They fought their way out of the play-in tournament to reach the Finals in 2023, but lost in the first round the last two years, winning only a single playoff game.

Last year, their season was derailed by their refusal to extend Jimmy Butler and his subsequent feud with his team. They traded Butler at the deadline last season for Andrew Wiggins, then added another veteran in Norman Powell over the summer.

This season, Tyler Herro missed 48 games, while Powell sat out 23 with injuries. Now the team is healthy, but they’ve been the NBA’s second-worst defense during their 3-9 slide. They’ve given up 130 points or more seven times in the last 12 games. Tuesday, they let the Raptors shoot 49 percent and 43 percent on threes, and grab 15 offensive rebounds.