With the Miami Heat looking to finish the current road trip on a good note, it has been one that's disappointing, with the latest result being a 127-110 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. While the Heat have been dealing with the continued absence of Tyler Herro and others, the team still has had a concerning start to the year, garnering the attention of Bam Adebayo and Norman Powell.
Miami had a fast start to the season, beginning 14-7, but since then, the team has gone 9-15, specifically 6-7 in January, which has seen the Heat unable to win consecutive games. These types of results have led to Miami being 23-22, putting them eighth in the Eastern Conference, a spot they are all too familiar with.
“Just got to be more consistent,” Adebayo said, according to The Miami Herald, after recording 32 points and 10 rebounds. “We can’t front-run. Every game has to be; we hold the line on defense from the start of the game. And then from the start of the game to the start of the third, and we figure it out from there. We’re having too many games where we’ll play great defense one night. Another night, we’ll kind of take off. So that’s got to be the difference. We’ve just got to be more consistent on that end, even if we’re missing or making shots.”
Norman Powell on the Heat's mindset amidst inconsistency
Miami Heat guard Norman Powell (24) shoots a jump shot during the second half against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center.
Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images
The team's inconsistency could also be attributed to health, as besides Herro and Kel'el Ware missing the rest of the road trip, Heat point guard Davion Mitchell is nursing a shoulder injury. Missing a bunch of crucial pieces in Miami's rotation has given head coach Erik Spoelstra a tough task in throwing out lineups that could fit.
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Besides the offense working through its kinks, the defense has faltered as well. While they're 10th in defensive rating, the recent stretch has seen opposing teams score a ton.
“Our defense has to…get that back on track,” Spoelstra said. “We’ve had nine straight games now where we’ve given up over 115 points, and that’s not a winning formula for us. We know that.”
While the Heat hope to get healthier and find consistency, it's also going to take a mental clarification to stack wins, an area that Powell says they've done before.
“You can’t be excited about one win,” Powell said after scoring 18 points on Thursday. “You’ve got another game coming up, and we’ve just got to stick to what our game plan is. We can’t have too many lulls, five-, six-minute lulls of not knowing what we’re doing defensively, not knowing what we’re trying to get out of the offense as well. We’ve got to collectively be on the same page and sustain it. We’ve done it before, we’ve gone on win streaks, and we’ve got to get back to putting our imprint on games multiple times in a row.”
At any rate, Miami looks for a bounce back on Saturday night against the Utah Jazz.