And seven defeats in a row! The Heat have been in great difficulty for several days and the meeting against the Suns did not allow them to revive. A 13-0 run between the first and second quarters gave Phoenix the lead, who then did not shake to maintain their lead.
“It’s obvious that we’re in tough times right now. The level of urgency and concern is very high”, can only observe Erik Spoelstra. “We are not strong enough, long enough and hard enough, nor with enough determination to deal with what happens in an NBA game. »
Far from its image as a physical and hard team to handle in the playoffs, the Heat, which had not lost seven games in a row since April 2008, has not shown a fighter's face lately.
“I don’t remember the last match where we forced a breakout,” laments the Florida coach. “We have to be physical, we have to make contact. We don't do it enough. And as we are suffering offensively, so when we miss shots or lose balls, we cannot overcome that. And what's more, we don't defend as we should. »
Only one instruction: make an effort
So there's not much that works in Miami. A move to zone defense in the last quarter gave a little breathing space, to come back to ten points, against a Phoenix team undoubtedly less alert because they had a 26-point lead before the last act. Frustrated, Erik Spoelstra scratches his head to find solutions.
“I’m looking, I’m looking”he concedes. “We were almost thirty points behind. I didn't know what to do at that moment. Whatever we decide, zone defense, individual defense, double catches etc., I'm up for it. I just want to see effort, hardness, physical impact, repeated effort. »
Jimmy Butler draws the same observation as his coach. Over the last seven matches, all lost, Miami has the worst attack and the third worst defense in the league… “I don’t think there’s enough effort. We're constantly getting beaten on dribbles, we're giving away offensive rebounds, we're not coming back on defense.”lists the local star. “All of these are actions that require effort. »
The team is complete so the Heat doesn't even have the excuse of injuries to justify this big slack.
“It doesn’t matter who the players are on the floor. If we don't defend, if we don't do what's necessary, it will be the same result.” warns Jimmy Butler. “So regardless of the five on the floor, you have to get the job done. We have to make the right choices and no transfer or change of training will change things. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Tyler Herro | 27 | 34.0 | 43.8 | 40.2 | 84.8 | 0.6 | 4.7 | 5.3 | 4.1 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 21.6 |
| Bam Adebayo | 36 | 34.9 | 50.2 | 9.1 | 78.0 | 2.3 | 8.3 | 10.5 | 4.2 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.4 | 21.0 |
| Jimmy Butler | 31 | 33.6 | 48.8 | 40.9 | 88.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 4.4 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 21.0 |
| Jaime Jaquez, Jr. | 40 | 30.1 | 51.2 | 35.6 | 83.3 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 3.8 | 2.7 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 13.8 |
| Duncan Robinson | 44 | 28.1 | 45.3 | 40.5 | 87.9 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 2.3 | 13.5 |
| Caleb Martin | 29 | 26.3 | 44.1 | 38.3 | 75.5 | 1.2 | 3.5 | 4.7 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 10.4 |
| Josh Richardson | 36 | 25.9 | 43.2 | 33.3 | 93.8 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 9.6 |
| Kevin Love | 35 | 18.2 | 43.8 | 33.8 | 77.4 | 1.1 | 5.2 | 6.3 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.8 | 9.3 |
| Terry Rozier | 3 | 30.1 | 30.3 | 18.2 | 100.0 | 0.7 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 5.0 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 8.7 |
| Kyle Lowry | 37 | 28.0 | 42.6 | 38.5 | 83.3 | 0.7 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 8.2 |
| Haywood Highsmith | 32 | 21.5 | 43.6 | 40.2 | 78.3 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 6.2 |
| Jamal Cain | 14 | 14.9 | 43.9 | 32.0 | 73.7 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 5.7 |
| Nikola Jovic | 19 | 16.7 | 40.2 | 42.2 | 55.0 | 0.9 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 5.5 |
| Thomas Bryant | 24 | 10.7 | 57.1 | 0.0 | 81.8 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 3.2 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 4.4 |
| Dru Smith | 9 | 14.5 | 45.5 | 41.2 | 100.0 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 4.3 |
| Orlando Robinson | 20 | 11.5 | 51.7 | 58.3 | 70.0 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 3.1 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 4.2 |
| Cole Swider | 9 | 4.9 | 42.9 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 2.6 |
| Rj Hampton | 8 | 9.5 | 28.6 | 12.5 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.3 |
