Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo provided a peek into the team’s current mindset.
“I learned a valuable lesson last year,” Adebayo said. “Don’t let go of the rope because you never know what’s on the other side. We could have let go of the rope after the first loss in the play-in and been like this is our season. But we didn’t. Because of that, we made a run to the Finals that was so unexpected. So for us, it’s not letting go of the rope.”
The past couple of weeks have not gone so swimmingly for the Heat. The team is riding a six-game losing streak and hasn’t picked up a win since it beat the Brooklyn Nets by one point back on Jan. 15.
During the Heat’s current losing streak, they have lost to the Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic, Memphis Grizzlies, Boston Celtics and New York Knicks. The Heat lost their most recent game to the Knicks by 16 points on Jan. 27.
The Heat have plummeted down the Eastern Conference standings lately. The team is still firmly in the playoff picture as the No. 7 seed in the conference but shares an identical record to the Magic, who are the conference’s No. 8 seed.
Arguably Miami’s best player in Jimmy Butler has scored 20 points or more in just two of his last six games, though he did have a great offensive performance against the Knicks a couple of days ago. He dropped 28 points to go along with four assists and eight rebounds while shooting 11-of-20 from the floor and 1-of-3 from deep in 36 minutes of playing time.
The Heat will hope to avoid picking up their seventh loss in a row when they play the Phoenix Suns at home on Monday. Miami has played slightly better basketball at home than it has on the road so far during the 2023-24 regular season, as the Heat own a 12-10 home record compared to a 12-12 road record.
After playing the Suns, Miami will then host the Sacramento Kings on Jan. 31. The Kings are on a three-game winning streak and earned a five-point road victory over Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 27.
Here’s to hoping that Adebayo and the Heat will be able to stem the tide with a home win over a formidable Suns team.