Unlike the Lakers, firmly established in the Top 3 of the Western Conference, the other 2020 finalist is struggling to continue, coming out of an offseason of only 71 days. As proof, after twenty games, the Heat has the fourth worst NBA record (7v-14d) and ranks, above all, in 13th place in the Eastern Conference. A departure that few people imagined, on the South Beach side, ahead of this 2020/21 financial year. And yet …
Not spared by the Covid-19, Miami has never really been able to count on a whole group. Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Goran Dragic or even Avery Bradley have missed, in turn, several parts. It is not easy, under these conditions, to find the right collective cohesion.
But even worse, and despite the long-awaited return of Jimmy Butler and an almost complete workforce, the Heat remains on four defeats in five games, which is more at home. Including the last two, rather embarrassing, against the Hornets and the Wizards. Two adversaries within their reach, on paper …
« Everyone is disappointed and wants to do better “, Engaged Erik Spoelstra for the Miami Herald, after the setback against Washington. ” We must continue to move forward. Some of us have the experience of having already been able to reverse the trend during the season. But we cannot allow the problem to be even bigger than it already is. We have had disappointing defeats and we need to stick together, to keep morale up and try to win again. »
“We are not putting our shots. And when we don’t put them on, it kind of gives us an excuse not to outdo ourselves in defense ”
Like their coach, the Miami players are just as disappointed and frustrated. This is particularly the case of Duncan Robinson, who asks that the Florida franchise react collectively.
« There is frustration, for sure. We are a very competitive group, with high ambitions. We are surprised that this does not go as planned and we are looking for solutions. But we have to start playing more for each other. It doesn’t mean that somebody is hogging the ball or whatever. This goes for everyone. »
Same story with Jimmy Butler. The leader of the Heat regrets that his team is not able to get its head out of the water, both offensively and defensively, by uniting as it is used to.
« We do not put our shots. And when we don’t put them on, it kind of gives us an excuse not to go overboard in defense. But when we put them on, we tend to defend well. We have to grow up, in the sense that we cannot yet trust our attack. We have to be the team that we claim to be: a team of dogs, of fighters. And we are not, at the moment. »
“No one will have mercy on us”
As Jimmy Butler pointed out last night, Miami collapsed after the break, scoring just 35 points (at 29% on shots), after scoring 65 (at 57%) in the first period. A surprising collapse, against the Wizards yet far from being famous for their defense, and which testifies to the offensive difficulties of the Floridians this season (105.7 points out of 100 possessions, the 26th best offensive rating of the League).
Proof that the last NBA finalists still have a long way to go, before they can find the Top 8 of their conference. If not more.
« We have to be better, it’s that easy », Concludes Erik Spoelstra. « We are working on a lot of things right now. We got the possessions we wanted, but we weren’t able to profit from them. These are things that happen. We still had the chance to win in the end, although we were unable to do so. But we have no excuses. No one will have mercy on us. »
| Tirs | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Tirs | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Fte | Pts |
| Bam adebayo | 18 | 33.1 | 58.8 | 40.0 | 86.0 | 1.8 | 7.5 | 9.3 | 5.3 | 3.1 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 20.1 |
| Jimmy Butler | 8 | 30.6 | 45.1 | 0.0 | 87.3 | 1.8 | 4.4 | 6.1 | 5.6 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 18.8 |
| Tyler Herro | 13 | 34.0 | 44.6 | 31.0 | 78.6 | 0.2 | 6.2 | 6.5 | 4.2 | 2.9 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 17.0 |
| Goran Dragic | 15 | 26.7 | 45.8 | 36.1 | 80.4 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 5.5 | 2.9 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 2.7 | 15.0 |
| Duncan Robinson | 20 | 33.9 | 44.1 | 41.6 | 86.1 | 0.1 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 13.6 |
| Kendrick Nunn | 13 | 25.7 | 46.0 | 31.0 | 86.7 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 12.1 |
| Kelly Olynyk | 19 | 26.3 | 42.2 | 33.9 | 72.7 | 0.9 | 4.4 | 5.3 | 2.4 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 9.7 |
| Avery Bradley | 9 | 21.9 | 45.9 | 40.5 | 77.8 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 2.6 | 8.7 |
| Gabe Vincent | 12 | 20.8 | 35.0 | 24.2 | 88.2 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 2.2 | 8.5 |
| Precious Achiuwa | 20 | 15.8 | 63.0 | 0.0 | 54.4 | 1.7 | 3.0 | 4.8 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 7.3 |
| Max Strus | 11 | 15.4 | 49.1 | 38.6 | 60.0 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 6.7 |
| Andre Iguodala | 18 | 21.1 | 36.6 | 34.4 | 45.5 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 4.8 |
| Chris Silva | 6 | 8.8 | 66.7 | 100.0 | 83.3 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 3.8 |
| Meyers Leonard | 3 | 9.8 | 42.9 | 42.9 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 3.3 |
| Kz Okpala | 12 | 13.7 | 38.7 | 36.8 | 33.3 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 2.8 |
| Maurice Harkless | 9 | 10.6 | 40.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 |
