The Miami Heat finally ended their four-game losing streak on Monday with a big win over the Sacramento Kings. It was a crucially important victory for the Heat whose struggles of late have led to a major bust-up within the squad.
Last Wednesday, in Miami's 118-104 loss to the Golden State Warriors, Jimmy Butler got into a heated altercation with head coach Erik Spoelstra mid-game. The Heat coach ended up throwing his clipboard towards Butler's direction while veteran Udonis Haslem had to be held back as he tried to get in Butler's face. It appears that this team has been able to put this episode behind them, but there's no denying that this was their frustration boiling over.
Tyler Herro has spoken out about his team's recent struggles and according to the third-year guard, he knows that his team is just far from their best at the moment:
“It’s disappointing,” said Herro, via Ira Winderman of the South Floride Sun Sentinel. “At this point of the year, we want to be playing our best basketball at this point. But, you know, there’s ups and downs to everything. You embrace the lows just as much as you embrace the highs. This is what is going to make us at the end of the day. And just continue to fight and continue to work it out.
“The perspective on our goals hasn’t changed at all, to continue to get better every single day. And, obviously, like I said, it’s been disappointing, but we’ll continue to work things out, and we’ll figure it [out] before the playoffs.”
The Heat took a major step towards getting out of their slump on Monday night with a 123-100 win over the Kings. They led the game from the get-go and they never took their foot off the pedal in what was a dominant display. The most important thing here for Miami is that they were able to stop the bleeding. After the win, the Heat remain atop the Eastern Conference with a 48-28 record. the Philadelphia 76ers and the Milwaukee Bucks are hot on their trail, though, with these two contenders sharing identical 46-28 records.
Heat assistant coach Chris Quinn, who deputized for Erik Spoelstra during Miami's 110-95 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday, echoed Herro's thoughts about this team's struggles. Spoelstra was attending to his son's medical procedure and unfortunately, Quinn was unable to guide the team to victory against Kevin Durant and Co.:
“Well, it certainly hasn’t been our best week,” said Quinn. “Obviously, we’re no excuses around here, trying to figure out what’s working and what’s not working, and we’ll just have to get back to it.
“We have a very prideful group. But obviously everyone is super competitive, and they know the deal. So these guys, I’m confident, will respond and be ready to go.”
Quinn hit the nail on the head with his statement here. Miami did respond in a major way as they took down the Kings on Monday.
The Heat may have the best record in the conference right now but there's no denying that they have shown some chinks in their armor. They have a few more games to get it together before the playoffs starts. Herro is confident that his team will get back to winning ways sooner rather than later, though. According to the leading candidate for this season's Sixth Man of the Year, “We’ll figure it out.”
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