The Heat called up its player to Kaseya Centre on a gloomy Tuesday late last month, following a humiliating loss to the Phoenix Suns that extended the team’s losing streak to seven games (its longest since 2008). There may have been more positive outcomes from that off-day than any other this season, even though not a single ball was bounced on the practice court that day—at least not in a group setting.
Since then, the Heat has won four out of six games; the only two losses were against two of the league’s greatest teams (the Clippers and Boston, while Jimmy Butler missed the Celtics game due to a tragedy in his family). Not as importantly, the Heat have become again the hard-working, competitive club that was absent for extended periods of the seven-game losing streak. “I doubt it’s a coincidence,” H said.
Heat wing Duncan Robinson stated of the team’s improved play since that matchup, “I don’t think it’s a coincidence.” If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my time in the NBA, it’s that putting your personal struggles aside and putting your all into the team is just as important to playing well as hitting Xs and Os.
