MIAMI – With the Miami Heat down 0-3 in the first-round playoff series to the Cleveland Cavaliers, one disappointing aspect has been the performance of Andrew Wiggins. After the Heat's 37-point Game 3 loss, which is the worst playoff defeat in the team's history, there's no doubt that feelings from the basketball world are that if the team wants to extend the series to the Cavs, Wiggins needs to play a huge part.

Wiggins was part of the trade that sent Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors, as he's been Miami's third option after Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. Despite the limited availability due to injuries, he has been productive, though the playoff series against Cleveland has been underwhelming.

Still, he has a tough mindset, which is shared by the rest of the team, despite having a 0-3 series deficit, as no team has ever come back from. Wiggins would say to ClutchPoints that the goal for the Heat is to “fight to the end.”

“You fight to the end. Especially here [with the Heat], they fight to the end,” Wiggins said after Sunday's practice. “As long as there is another game, there's a chance. We believe in ourselves in what we can do, and we just got to win one game. Take it from there, and the rest will take care of itself. We just got to focus on that one game.”

Andrew Wiggins is “important” to the Heat

Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins (22) brings the ball up court in the first quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena.
David Richard-Imagn Images

As the Heat look to extend the series in Game 4 against the Cavs, Wiggins will need to put up a better outing than the previous three games, where he's totaled just 34 points. Wiggins is no doubt feeling Cleveland's defense, which has succeeded against the likes of Herro, as shown in Game 3.

However, he's still integral for Miami as that sentiment was echoed by team captain Bam Adebayo, who called Wiggins a “champion” and explained the setup for better success.

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“The man is a champion and played a big role in that championship run,” Adebayo said to ClutchPoints. “So obviously we want him to play in open space, we want him to be free-minded. We want him to be himself, so the best way to do that is to get him in an open space and let him go.”

Consequently, the question of who's to blame for the lack of output from Wiggins is a mix of himself and coaching, as said by head coach Erik Spoelstra, who expressed he needs to do a “better job” of putting the 30-year-old in the right spots.

“He’s really important,” Spoelstra said after Game 3, where Wiggins scored 10 points. “He has to be assertive, he has to be aggressive. I have to do a better job of getting him in spots where he can really produce for us, and that’s the task over the next two days. He knows it, I know it, our team knows it. … I have to do a better job of getting him in places where he can feel comfortable and aggressive.”

Miami looks to avoid a sweep in Game 4 on Monday night.