It was an ugly loss Wednesday night for the Miami Heat as they fell to the depleted Memphis Grizzlies inside the Kaseya Center, 105-96. The Heat are struggling immensely at the moment, especially on the offensive side, with this game being arguably their worst loss of the season as they have failed to score 100 total points in five of the last seven contests.
Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke after the team's fourth straight loss and said that they are in the part of the season where it is “funky” to a point where he “can't even explain it.” To get through the lapses on both sides of the ball, Spoelstra expressed that it is going to take some “fortitude” and “collective toughness” to play better in the second half of the season.
“Right now it's just one of these periods of time an NBA season that's funky. I can't even explain it. You know, that's basically what I told the group. There's a lot of just uncharacteristic plays offensively. I thought like, again, we did a lot of good things offensively and then it would lead to a missed shot,” Spoelstra said. “It's just going to take some fortitude. It's okay to have a grind in this business where things are not necessarily going your way and you just have to stay with it, and you develop that collective toughness. Nobody's happy or comfortable with this. And I know a lot of guys are trying to do the right thing offensively. I see it. I don't want the group to get frustrated with that, because a breakthrough is right around the corner.”
Spoelstra wanted to win “ugly as heck”
It is no secret that Spoelstra loves playing those “ugly as heck” games where the Heat beat other teams in the mud. Wednesday was one of those times, but it was hard for Miami to overcome a sluggish first three quarters after making a slight comeback in the final period. The head coach even mentions the time where the team had a chance to take a one-point lead off of a step-back three-pointer from Heat newcomer Terry Rozier which would have been a “beautiful moment,” but he missed.
“And then in the meantime, while you're struggling offensively, you can still defend and get a game in the mud and just find a way to win. Ugly as heck. I mean, this was an ugly offensive performance two games in a row. And it still could have been a very winnable game. Obviously when Terry had that step back three, I mean, that's his shot that had an opportunity. I felt like wow, this would have been a beautiful moment,” Spoelstra said. “Not just for Terry, I'm saying, have an ugly game offensively and then find a way to win at the end. And then something like can put a back in spark your group and unfortunately that didn't happen tonight. But I think it's good. We have the number one team in the East coming in tomorrow and we have a group that's very competitive. And I think everybody would be just looking forward to a super high level of competition tomorrow night.”
Bam Adebayo talks about what gets the Heat in “trouble
It's been a trend for the Heat being unable to play complimentary basketball as the offensive struggles have carried over to the defense. If there was one player that doesn't fall in that category, it is star Bam Adebayo who did have a down night with 15 points, but collected 15 rebounds, six assists, and had a career-high six blocks. He mentioned after the game that the team tried to play the right way, but that gets them into “trouble” at some points.
“I feel like we’re all trying to play the right way and that sometimes gets us in trouble. Passing up shots… it's all a lot of things that go into it. But it's one of those… it's that funky time of the year but like everybody's really just trying to buy into what coach is saying and that gets us in trouble sometimes,” Adebayo said in his postgame presser.
Another loss for the Heat brings them to a 24-20 record which puts them sixth in the Eastern Conference. The road doesn't get any easier as they will play Thursday night on the tail-end of the back-to-back against the Boston Celtics.
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