MIAMI – After the Miami Heat upset the Detroit Pistons on Thursday, the team had been on a four-game winning streak until they came back down to Earth after losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night, 125-115. In a frustrating night that included Heat star and Sixth Man of the Year candidate Jaime Jaquez Jr. leaving the game with an ankle injury, the game slipped through the fingers of the team as Bam Adebayo and Norman Powell got real on their outlook.

While it wasn't the prettiest offensive game to start, Miami kept it close with Minnesota in the first half, trailing 56-50 at halftime, leading into the third quarter, where the team had gained major momentum during the past four-game winning streak. But the Timberwolves, led by Anthony Edwards' 33 points, stifled the Heat in the fourth quarter, leading the team to now question what it takes to turn in consistent outings.

For the team captain in Adebayo, he would say that Miami isn't where they want to be, though they have shown “flashes.”

“I think we show flashes, so you can't really dictate how close or not we are. I think just being more consistent,” Adebayo said, after recording 12 points and leading the team with nine rebounds.  Understand that every game is not gonna be the same. Understand, obviously, different personnel, and we just got to think the game more.”

The first half saw many chances for the team to come out of the gate hot, but shooting under 30 percent from deep and just over 40 percent from the field wasn't cutting it. For. Adebayo, he said to ClutchPoints, that besides Minnesota's defense and not getting to their spots, they “missed some open ones.”

“I thought we created enough open ones, it just didn't go in, and feel like we missed a couple. Free layups, where, you know, that type of momentum can change how the outcome of the game is,” Adebayo said.

Norman Powell gets real on Heat's current outlook

Miami Heat guard Norman Powell (24) passes the basketball surrounded by Minnesota Timberwolves defenders during the fourth quarter at Kaseya Center.
Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

While Adebayo looks to get back to being consistent for the Heat, one player who has been leading Miami in the scoring department is Norman Powell, who had a team-high 21 points on Saturday. As he helps the team get to where their expectations are, being honest could be a first step, keeping it real when asked if Miami is at the level they want to be.

“We're definitely not there yet. Definitely not,” Powell said. “I think we've had stretches. I think with [four] games we won, like you can see where we want to be, how we are, and the potential of the team. But good, great teams, it's their identity every single night, you know. And that's what we're building to every single night, you know the team that you're going to face and what you have to do to prepare to face that team.”

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“And we're a young team, we're continuing to figure it out, like I said, once we get later into the season, you know, past All-Star break, we got to have that identity locked in for the playoffs and positioning, especially in the east, everything so close. So we got to start putting together these, these wins,” Powell continued.

Powell would leave the game with leg soreness and was deemed questionable to return, but came back in to try to turn the contest around, but it was all for nought.

Heat's Erik Spoelstra sees “progress” despite disappointing loss

The Heat look to get back to basics in what has made them successful in the first place this season, which is excelling with their fast-paced and free-flowing offense. However, it's hard to expect that for 82 straight games, leading to some outings where Miami has to get back to their original forte in playing out of the mud with their defense, especially against top-level teams.

This was an aspect that head coach Erik Spoelstra saw “progress” in on Saturday despite the loss.

“Once it got to double digits, then we just lost our concentration, and it can happen against a good team; that's what we're working on. We're getting better with it. I'm seeing a lot of progress with it,” Spoelstra said. “But there's that pocket that just went 10 to 19 or 20 or whatever it was, quickly, and it was three or four mistakes that just compounded one after another on both ends of the court, either turnover, not executing the way we need to, and then having some defensive breakdowns on the other end. So that's a shame, because it felt like this was going to be a possession game going down the stretch.”

At any rate, the Heat are now 19-16 with little time to reflect as the second game of the back-to-back is on Sunday evening against the New Orleans Pelicans before starting a four-game Midwest road trip. Funny enough, that slate starts Tuesday in a rematch in Minnesota.