MIAMI – As the Miami Heat deal with the stress at this point of the season, they are using those emotions as fuel to overcome the hurdles in front of them and turn around their season. With the Heat having the confidence to bounce back, Bam Adebayo speaks on continually having the mindset to “keep fighting.”
Looking at the last two Miami losses, it has been a microcosm of the season as a whole as both saw the team have 17-point leads early in the game, even 11-point leads in the fourth quarter, but would end up losing the contest. One would think that with gutpunch after another, human nature would kick in for a moment as the self-double creeps in, but for Adebayo, his perspective is not that.
“I mean, we've seen years of teams going 11-30 in the first half of the season and in the second go 30-11,” Adebayo said to ClutchPoints. “I've had it in my career where we've had, we've lost seven straight. So when you put it from my perspective, is that we still got a chance to still keep fighting.”
Bam Adebayo stresses Heat can't “cough up” the season
The Heat's captain in Adebayo has been at the forefront in trying to get the team out from the gutter of these painful losses and turn that into victories for a hopeful playoff push. When speaking after Monday's brutal defeat to the Charlotte Hornets, Adebayo has not lost his hope and believes there's still time for a resurgence.
“We can’t just cough up this season,” Adebayo said. “It’s next-game mentality and you never know. You win one and then you don’t know how long that streak will last. For us, it’s not letting go of the rope. We’ve went through too much this season to let go of the rope now.”
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Erik Spoelstra on the state of the Heat after a few painful losses
As Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra admitted the team had regressed during last Saturday's loss to the Chicago Bulls, he remains confident in his team to turn the page and play up to their standard. He would say that Tuesday's practice was a good step in the right direction.
“I mean, that's the thing about this group, we just continue to forge ahead, and it's good to have our group here together,” Spoelstra said. “Just feel the spirit of everybody, and also get to work. I mean, there's things that we constantly have to try to improve. This was one of the first few sessions we've actually had with everybody, except for Terry. And these moments are important to get on the same page.”
With the Bulls and Hornets closer to the bottom of the standings, the next handful of games for Miami is against tough opponents like Wednesday vs. the Los Angeles Clippers and Friday against the Boston Celtics. When asked if he believes the roster can compete with those type of opponents, Spoelstra had no hesitancy to say they do.
“I do. Yes, I do. Of course, I do,” Spoelstra said when asked if he still believes the Heat’s current roster can compete with quality teams. “And our guys in the locker room feel the same way. We just have to stay together and use this as a growth opportunity to overcome something that sucks. We’re going to figure this out.”
At any rate, Miami is 29-35 which puts them ninth in the Eastern Conference before Wednesday night against the Clippers which continues the current home stand.
