The day before the Miami Heat played the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, they had a team meeting, and Jimmy Butler along with Bam Adebayo made their voices heard during that meeting.
"[Miami Heat] had a team meeting on Tuesday, where I'm told Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, their two leaders, they both spoke up."@ShamsCharania reacts to the Heat breaking their losing streak.
📺: https://t.co/wdT8I0ST8g pic.twitter.com/WF4KJJzyT4
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) February 1, 2024
“They had a team meeting on Tuesday, where I’m told Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo — their two leaders — they both spoke up,” Charania said. “Anytime Jimmy Butler speaks, and I’m told he was powerful in that meeting, and his actions backed it up last night.”
Butler helped the Heat snap their seven-game losing streak against the Kings. He had one of his top performances of the 2023-24 regular season, considering he finished with 31 points, seven rebounds, six assists and one steal while shooting 10-of-14 from the field and 2-of-3 from deep.
Adebayo also starred for the Heat in their nine-point win. The big man dropped 16 points, 11 rebounds and four assists on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor across 32 minutes of action.
With the win, Miami snapped the Kings’ four-game winning streak. They had not lost a game since falling to the Indiana Pacers at home on Jan. 18.
Following their victory over Sacramento, the Heat are 25-23 on the season, which has the team as the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference right now. It’s worth noting that Miami shares an identical record with the Orlando Magic, who have lost six of their last 10 games and are the No. 8 seed in the conference.
The Heat will have a good chance to pick up their second win in a row on Friday. Miami will play the Washington Wizards — who own the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference ahead of only the Detroit Pistons — on the road.
But after their matchup against the Wizards, the Heat will have a game against one of the hottest teams in the league. The team has a home matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers slated for Feb. 4. The Clippers boast an 8-2 record over their past 10 games and just recently earned a 19-point victory over the Boston Celtics — who own the league’s best record — on Jan. 27.
Hopefully, the Heat’s team meeting earlier this week will prove to be just what the doctor ordered for Miami. It will look to string together some wins in the coming days following its worst stretch of basketball this season.
