Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo reveals the team’s current mindset.
“I learned a valuable lesson last year,” said Adebayo. “Don’t let go of the rope because you never know what’s on the other side. We could have let go after the first defeat in the play-in game and said to ourselves that this is our season. But we didn’t. That is why we made it to the final, which was so unexpected. So it doesn’t matter to us that we let go.”
The last few weeks have not gone so smoothly for the Heat. The team is on a six-game losing streak and hasn’t won since beating the Brooklyn Nets by one point on 15 January.
The Heat’s current losing streak includes losses to the Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic, Memphis Grizzlies, Boston Celtics and New York Knicks. The Heat lost their last game against the Knicks on 27 January by 16 points.
The Fever have recently dropped in the Eastern Conference standings. The team is still firmly in the playoff race, as it is seventh in the conference, but has the same number of points as the Magic, who are eighth in the conference.
Arguably Miami’s best player, Jimmy Butler, has scored 20 points or more in only two of the last six games, although he put in a great offensive performance against the Knicks a few days ago. In 36 minutes of play, he scored 28 points, four assists and eight rebounds, making 11 of 20 shots from the field and 1 of 3 from deep.
The Fever hope to avoid a seventh consecutive defeat when they play the Phoenix Suns at home on Monday. Miami has played slightly better basketball at home than on the road so far in the 2023-24 regular season, as the Fever are 12-10 at home and 12-12 on the road.
After the game against the Suns, Miami will host the Sacramento Kings on 31 January. The Kings are on a three-game winning streak and defeated Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks by five points on the road on 27 January.
Let’s hope that Adebayo and the Heat can stem the tide with a home win against a strong Suns team.