Miami are now 41 games into regular season and have officially reached the halfway point. Even though they only possess a 24-17, it is almost impossible to forget how last campaign they were in a similar situation by January 2023, but went on to beat all the title-contenders in the Eastern Conference’s playoffs to reach the NBA Finals.
Last season, the Heat were dealing with constant injury problems and surprising defeats. However, coach Erik Spoelstra is convinced his team has what it takes to overcome these recurrent issues with their proven-elite mentality.
The Miami trainer sent a message to other NBA teams, warning them about his own squad, who he assures will once again improve their game during this second half of the season and surprise all. “Buckle up,” Spoelstra said. “We’re not hiding from anybody, so we’re looking forward to the second half of the season.”
Club star Jimmy Butler was also consulted by the press about the team’s current situation, and if he feels satisfied by sitting in their conference’s 6th spot.
“We’re cool. Obviously, we can be better. But we’d rather be seven games over .500 than seven games under .500. So we’ll be just fine…,” the veteran said. “I’m not too worried about that. There’s still time to get six and above. I don’t know where we are right now. There are plenty of games left.”
Teammate Kyle Lowry, on the other hand, admitted that it is “hard to say” where his team’s stands halfway through regular season, as he’s knows for a fact that his team can play way better than displayed already. However, he believes that “we’ll figure it out.”
“It’s kind of hard to say, all right we’re here or we’re not here,” the point guard expressed. “We haven’t had our three guys play together, just 10 games total. That’s not a lot of repetitions together. But even though they’ve been together for the whole last five years, everyone is getting better, everybody is getting different. So it’s challenging to try to figure out how to make sure that we get those guys going. They’re professionals and we’ll figure it out. So I don’t know where we are.”
Big man Bam Adebayo explains the ‘different, weird’ strategy rivals are using against him this season
Bam Adebayo has improved almost every single personal stat line this season, as he’s becoming a strong defender, as well as a well known-offensive threat. The Heat center recently reacted to the way the opposing defenses have been sending two defenders to double-team his efforts, which he considers to be a sign of flattery.
“Different. Very, very different,” the big man said how other teams have been dealing with him. “That’s the first time I’ve really been doubled that much in a game. But definitely a sign of respect and you watch film and you build off of that, knowing that teams are going to double you now. So the biggest thing is to find the open man.”
BAM ADEBAYO REACHES BACK FOR THE LOB 😱
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 16, 2024
Adebayo believes that rival squads have been noticing he’s been improving his play-making abilities with his passing, so the strategy to contain him has changed.
“It was weird, not going to say it didn’t feel right,” Bam shared. “Just because you’re used to, maybe certain actions you get doubled. But it was like every time and you have to have the mental stability to keep playing and be productive. I did that rebounding and defending.”
