It was an exciting night for the Miami Heat Sunday as they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in dominant fashion, 121-84, after suffering a blowout loss of their own last Friday to the New Orleans Pelicans. Each performance was drastically different as it could have been jarring for any fan to watch as Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and star Bam Adebayo spoke about what was different.
Miami played one of their worst games against the Pelicans where they shot under 30 percent from three-point range and lost in ugly fashion to New Orleans. This time around, they dismantled the Cavs where they were exceptional on both sides of the ball, especially on the defensive end where Spoelstra said the turnaround is what “makes this league humbling.”
“That's what makes this league humbling. We're on the other end of it the other night and our intention, everything, we felt like we're right going into it and we definitely were flat in that game and this game we're alive,” Spoelstra said. “Instead of just focusing on the misses or whether the shot was going in or not, we just doubled, tripled, quadrupled down on trying to have a massive, collective defensive effort every single possession and see what that can generate for us and that carried out for the majority of the game and we're able to get some easy ones off of some turnovers, rebounds.”
Erik Spoelstra talks about the other night being on the receiving end of a blowout loss and then tonight winning big vs. the Cavs.
“That’s what makes this league humbling…” #HeatCulture pic.twitter.com/odCJFVZeus
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 25, 2024
“There were a bunch of inspiring defensive plays that lead to easy buckets going the other way and you see the ball go in and went in an easy fashion that can change things,” Spoelstra continued. “But in order to see the ball go in sometimes in an easy way, you have to do a bunch of very difficult things defensively, and we're committed to that.
Bam Adebayo said there was a different sense of urgency
With now 11 games left in the regular season, there is no room for error for the Heat if they want to get out of contention for the play-in tournament and be a top six seed in the Eastern Conference. While fans might've wanted to see this earlier, Adebayo said after the game to the media that “there was a different sense of urgency.”
“Made shots,” Adebayo said when asked what was different in this game compared to their last outing. “You can definitely tell there was a different sense of urgency during the game and obviously making shots helped, but we were was really active on the defensive end, getting steals, getting deflections and turning them in offense.”
Bam Adebayo on how the team looked tonight compared to their performance against the Pelicans.
“I feel like you can definitely tell there was a different sense of urgency…” #HeatCulture pic.twitter.com/JQBe4gLSJ9
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 25, 2024
Adebayo would finish with 15 points while collecting 16 rebounds which marks his 186th double-double passing Hassan Whiteside as the third most in Heat history. However, he was exceptional on the defensive end as he dealt with the task of primarily guarding Cavs big-man Jarrett Allen and at some points, their star in Darius Garland, where his goal was to “force them into difficult shots.”
“We just know how to make them shoot difficult shots, force them into difficult shots, get the ball out of their hands as much as possible then you live with that result,” Adebayo said. “For us, it's really just giving that extra effort.”
Spoelstra says “this group really cares” when talking about the Heat
This was a much needed performance from a Heat team that has experienced nothing but hurdles in front of them like the continuous injuries that plague the team. Just before the game, Miami's star rookie in Jaime Jaquez Jr. was ruled out, but Spoelstra emphasized that “this group really cares” when they experience a loss like they did last Friday.
“More than anything then the score is seeing a collective response,” Spoelstra said. “The one thing about our group is, this group really cares. And even after night like the other night, you can define it in a bunch of different ways when it's a really lopsided loss and you can erroneously say that's a listless team. It's not, this is a team that cares deeply and there's so many of the guys that have a personality probably, throw me in there, too, we beat ourselves up after poor performances, and we just can't wait to get back out there again to try to make amends for it and that's the thing I really admire about this group, the group cares and the even through some of the tough times there can be some benefits from that.”
The Heat are now 39-32 which puts them seventh in the East with 11 games left in the regular season. Miami looks to win two straight as they continue on with their home stand Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors.
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