MIAMI — The wakeup call Monday morning was real, and not the form of reality sought by a team attempting to avoid a fourth consecutive season in the NBA’s play-in round.

After a trip that featured three blowout losses, including one to the team with the NBA’s worst record, and a postponement of the other game due to condensation on the court at Chicago’s United Center, the Miami Heat awoke Monday three games from being out of the play-in.

As in dropping out of the play-in bracket.

As in three games above 11th place.

No, not the space being chased, with the top six teams in each conference advancing directly to the playoffs and the next four to the play-in round. But the reality of this 6-12 tumble from a 14-7 start.

Yes, injuries have factored, with Norman Powell missing Sunday night’s 124-112 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center due to back pain, and with Tyler Herro just three games back from the toe contusion that had him out since Dec. 9.

But it has been a while since the going has been good with any permutation, as Erik Spoelstra has sorted through a variety of lineups and rotations, including a start Sunday night for Pelle Larsson in place of Powell.

Over their last 12 games, the Heat stand No. 23 in the league in offensive rating, down to No. 13 in defensive rating, No. 18 in net rating and No. 24 in effective field-goal percentage.

Basically, the numbers of a lottery team.

(And, yes, the Heat own their own draft pick this coming June.)

“We will get better. We will get better,” Spoelstra said, as the Heat turn to a challenging three-game homestand that opens Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns, continues Thursday against the Boston Celtics and concludes Saturday with a rematch against the Thunder. As in games against the teams that entered Monday, respectively, with records of 24-15, 24-14 and 33-7. That is with the Heat now with a 7-16 record against teams with winning records.

“We know we have a very important week,” Spoelstra said, with perhaps even that understated, as the Feb.5 NBA trading deadline looms. “This road trip didn’t go the way we wanted it to. We have a lot of different factors, but we have a great opportunity this week at home, three good, competitive opponents.”

Sunday, it was close through the early stages of the third quarter. But that’s when Heat turnovers fueled a Thunder turnaround. The Heat closed with a season-high 23 turnovers, including six by Andrew Wiggins and five by Jaime Jaquez Jr. The 36 turnovers led to 39 Thunder points.

The goal going forward? “Respond in a better way,” Spoelstra said.

Over the 6-12 run the Heat carry into Tuesday night, they stand 21st in the NBA in turnover percentage, down there with the likes of the Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans.

“We have to be sharp, on top of our game,” Spoelstra said of the balance of continuing at the NBA’s top pace but also finding ways to get the turnovers down. “We want to be aggressive and not fearful, but we do have to be mindful.”

In that respect, the league seems to have adjusted to the Heat’s game, with the Heat not necessarily adjusting to those adjustments.

“We’ve adjusted some things as the season goes on,” Spoelstra said. “I mean, you are always information gathering based on how teams are planning to do it. We want to face as many different strategies as possible. But we want to get to what we want to get to.

“And that’s what this league is about: Can you get your identity more often, regardless of what teams are doing to try to take you away from, being more fully capable of it?”

Now playing a smaller lineup, with Kel’el Ware off the bench, rebounding again emerged as a concern Sunday, with the Heat outscored 26-1 on second-chance points, with just five offensive rebounds.

“You’ve got to pride yourself on that, dig deep,” said Wiggins, who has moved up from small forward to power forward in the lineup that has had Ware back to the bench the past two games.”

So, now, work ahead in the most challenging of weeks.

“We’ve got to run more, take care of the ball more, and get stops,” Larsson said.