It's a ranking that we rarely look at, but the Heat are the only undefeated team in their division. It must be admitted that it is one of the weakest with the presence of the Wizards and the Hornets. However, Miami is up to 8 wins in 8 matches this season, and last night, it was a derby against the Magic, in a pivotal meeting since the two teams had the same record: 21 victories – 16 defeats.
Thanks to a great Bam Adebayo, the Heat came close (99-96), and it's a small feat when you know that Miami was deprived of Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and Kyle Lowry. As a result, Erik Spoelstra lined up a 21st different starting five without a point guard, with Jaime Jaquez Jr., Duncan Robinson, Haywood Highsmith, Nikola Jovic and Bam Adebayo. The Heat won with only eight players.
“From the first quarter, we understood that it would be a close match” comments Erik Spoelstra. “We had the impression that neither team would be able to make a difference. They defend very well and we came into this game with the intention of defending better than the other night.”
An ugly, old-fashioned victory
For the record, this is the first time since December 11 that an NBA team has won a game with fewer than 100 points scored. This is only the 7th time this season, and it is ultimately not surprising that it is the Heat who succeed. “I’m sure the fans loved it” smiles Spoelstra. “It was an old-fashioned Miami Heat game. The kind of game the Heat and Magic used to play… In the last 24 hours, Pat [Riley] had caused it on several occasions. It's good to keep the score low and defend, then find a way to win in the end. This is what we managed to do. I think it's a good thing that we were able to finish with a stop. This is an encouraging element.”
For Adebayo, very close to the “triple-double”, “you have to win in an ugly way”. “You have to win matches like that. It's part of a season, and it's a long one. »
