The Miami Heat have made a habit out of playing close games in the 2022-23 campaign, so much so that Bam Adebayo feels like the team plays a playoff game “every night.”
“It feels like we play a playoff game every night,” Adebayo said.
Miami has been a part of a lot of contests decided by very few possessions this season. In fact, the team has been in 30 matches decided by five points or fewer. Fortunately, it has won 19 of them. That record is a major reason the Heat are 32-25 with 25 games left to be played.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has found amusement in the phenomenon, stating that his team’s games have turned out to be must-see content because anything can happen in crunch time.
“It’s must see and it’s going to be a close game,” Spoelstra said of the way Miami’s games tend to go. “It’s going to be a possession game. There’s going to be some crazy things that happen in the last three minutes.”
While fans certainly love to watch Miami battle its opponents in thrilling fashion, a possible problem is that the trend may take its toll on Heat players. Regardless, the players are saying all the right things, with star Jimmy Butler declaring that his squad seems to have a penchant for putting on a show.
“It’s difficult, but I think that’s the type of squad that we are,” Butler said. “We like to make things difficult, I guess put on a show, I don’t know what you would call it.
“It could be a lot easier. But we take them as they come.”
According to Adebayo, Miami’s experience in close games may help the Heat in the playoffs. Furthermore, grinding contests out against opponents appears to be in the team’s DNA.
“So many of our games be 98-99,” Adebayo said. “It just shows the grit that we play with. We like to slow the game down and win it in the mud.
“When we get in the playoffs, that’s when you start to really get those 98-99 games. We’ve had how many games decided by five points? So looking at that, we’ve all been comfortable in those situations.”
As Adebayo mentioned, it does seem like the Heat are often involved in low-scoring games. This season, Miami is averaging 108.4 points per game, which ranks last in the NBA. The Heat certainly have room for growth in that area.
Improvement could come in the form of better offensive sets or a roster upgrade. As it stands, Miami only has three truly reliable scorers. Butler paces the squad with 21.9 points per game, while Adebayo is not that far off with 21.6 points per game. Coming in third is Tyler Herro with 20.6 points per game. Every other Heat player is averaging under 13 points per game.
To compensate for the lack of offense, the Heat have been stellar on defense, allowing just 108.1 points per game, which ranks second in the NBA this season. But whenever a game is on the line, which is often for the Heat, they still need to find ways to generate points.