It was a less than ideal outing for the Miami Heat Wednesday night as they dropped their fourth straight game against the Denver Nuggets inside the Kaseya Center, 100-88. One of the few standouts from the Heat was star big-man Bam Adebayo who spoke after the game about the team's performance and where the team stands wit 17 games left in the season.
Adebayo kept an even-keeled attitude in the locker room despite the loss, but still acknowledged that the team could have played better to their strengths. However, he would not use the word “frustrating” to describe the outing and was immediately focused on getting better.
“I wouldn't say frustrating, we just go to look at film and figure it out,” Adebayo said. “Obviously part of the game is you want to win, we held guys under their averages, but we didn't win. For us, it's watching film and figuring out how to get better.”
The 2023-24 NBA All-Star led the Heat in points and rebounds with 17 and 13 to go along with three assists while shooting just below 50 percent from the field. He talked about the deciding factor for the Nuggets in the fourth quarter being Reggie Jackson off the bench who had seven points and made three of his four attempts from the field.
“I think Reggie made some big shots down the stretch,” Adebayo said. “That’s something we got to live with. He was making shots, he was in his mode.”
Adebayo talks about the Heat's poor offense dictating the defense
Throughout the four-game losing streak, the Heat's play has been very reminiscent to how it was during the seven-game skid earlier in the year where they played their worst basketball. Adebayo brought that up after the game to the media where at the moment, the struggles on offense are dictating the poor play on the defensive side.
“We just have to learn when we're not making shots we still have to get stops, and stop teams from scoring, We just need to hold down the fort when shots aren't going in,” Adebayo said. “I feel like it's slippage, not communicating enough. It's not easy being on a four-game losing streak, obviously you want guys to keep that same intensity, but I feel like we will have a breakthrough.”
Caleb Martin talks about what went wrong for Miami against Denver
Caleb Martin has been known to Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and other players as the team's “X Factor,” but had a rough outing off the bench with three points. There is no doubt that Martin will be significant come the home stretch of the season and into the playoffs.
In terms of the loss to the Nuggets, he believes that it “boils down to the 50/50 plays” and then the Heat's defense down the stretch. He talks about the tough matchup against Denver and gives them props by saying they “won a championship for a reason” after beating Miami in five games last June.
“I think a lot of it boils down to the 50/50 plays, just execution of the 50/50 plays and then just getting stops down the stretch. Things that were more than capable of getting done and obviously, including myself, I gave up a big rebound towards the end of the game,” Martin said. “I think with Gordon and stuff like that, just, you know, it just can't happen when you're trying to beat one of the best teams in the league, they won a championship for reason and there's certain aspects of the game that we can't lack in.”
Caleb Martin talks about what went wrong in the fourth quarter against the Nuggets.
“A lot of it boils down to 50/50 plays…” #HeatCulture pic.twitter.com/DrbTN7kayT
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 14, 2024
Martin says Nuggets “won a championship for a reason”
There is a lot of reasons that make the Nuggets still the team to beat in the Western Conference, really in the whole NBA, as Martin expresses that besides being led by two stars in Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, they have veterans and “young ambitious” players. When playing a well-oiled machine like that, there is little to no room for error for Miami.
“Some stuff is like I said, they're reigning champs for a reason, you know, everybody's able and everybody's capable of coming in and making things happen. Guys come off the bench and hit 12 shots and all those guys are proven players,” Martin said. “They got a lot of young ambitious guys who fit right in as, you know, a great group of young glue guys and Jokic and Murray, they just make that team go so give those guys credit. They got a lot of confidence coming in playing, but some stuff you live with, we take care of like I said, to take care of the 50/50 balls, being the hardest playing team early on and through all four quarters and then those are times where we can afford it.”
Martin says Heat's sense of urgency is “definitely at an all-time high”
Now with 17 games left in the regular season, there is very little room to breathe for Miami in terms of solidifying playoff position. At this point of the season where every win matters, Martin says to ClutchPoints that “the sense of urgency is definitely at an all-time high,” but they are still “composed.”
“It's a little bit of both. The sene of urgency is definitely at an all time high but also just staying composed. We got a lot of guys who we've done a lot of winning in this locker room, and on that staff,” Martin said. “So they've been here, they've been here before and we follow their lead. So we have a lot of confidence in those guys and they have a lot of confidence in us going forward. And that's just part of the game. Got to figure it out. But definitely want to figure it out now.”
Asked Caleb Martin about with little to no room for error as there is 17 games left in the season, is the sense of urgency at an all-time high?
“The sense of urgency is definitely at an all-time high, but we’re also staying composed…” #HeatCulture pic.twitter.com/1xT4GvJR8l
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 14, 2024
The Heat are 35-30 on the season at the current moment which puts them eighth in the Eastern Conference. They now embark on a four-game road trip that starts with two straight contests against the Detroit Pistons who are 12-53.
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