MIAMI – As the Miami Heat are riding a six-game winning streak before Thursday night's contest against the Memphis Grizzlies, there is no doubt shock from many fans to see the turnaround after what's been a dreadful March. The Heat were amidst a 10-game losing streak that set their season back many lengths, but the recent stretch of victory is not shocking to head coach Erik Spoelstra.
Speaking to the media before Thursday's game facing Memphis in the second game of a back-to-back, with the first being Wednesday against the Boston Celtics, Spoelstra spoke of an array of topics. He would say to ClutchPoints that the team has “gone through a lot,” which could partly be about the Jimmy Butler saga from earlier, and “saw that things were trending way better.”
“We've had a lot of experiences in our organization dealing with adversity, and you can go different directions,” Spoelstra said. “But I sensed it immediately that one that the group had gone through a lot, not making that as an excuse, but there's a lot of things going on, and we're trying to put it together and do it, and pivot and play a different way mid-season, and still have the expectations that this city and this franchise have, and that's what we love about this organization.”
“But when we were losing, we saw that things were trending way better,” Spoelstra continued. “We felt much better about the things that were happening, there was some really painful fourth quarters, but it was hard not to notice the really good things that was happening. And probably the most important thing that was happening is even through the losses, the adversity brought this group more connected and closer together.”
Asked Spo about even despite the 10-game skid, is he surprised about the current streak.
“We’ve had a lot of experience in our organization dealing with adversity, but I sensed it immediately…when we were losing, we saw things were trending better.” #HeatNation
Full response: pic.twitter.com/Q3sZK68TkL
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) April 3, 2025
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Heat's locker room is “alive” amidst winning streak
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Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra reacts during the third quarter against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena.
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Despite the Heat trending in the right direction, it did tank their chances of getting out of play-in tourney contention, but the team will have to sleep in the bed they made for themselves. Still, Spoelstra is valid in seeing positives from the majority of the losses in the skid as most saw the team leading by double-digits before falling in the final frame which he mentioned.
Still, the win in Boston was just one of the many victories that saw the team win by a large margin which shows the amount of improvement. Spoelstra would even say after Wednesday's outing that the “locker room is alive.”
“We’re just trying to take care of our business and continue to try to play well, compete hard, have this connectivity that’s growing as this season is going on, and prepare,” Spoelstra said. “Our locker room is alive. It’s been alive even when we were losing games just for this opportunity to compete, have these games matter, and grow together through all of this stuff.”
At any rate, the Heat look to continue the winning ways against the Grizzlies to make it seven straight, but before the game, the team is 35-41 which puts them ninth in the Eastern Conference.