Miami Heat dropped a road game to the Toronto Raptors to fall back to a 9-9 record for the season.
Ahead of a tough match-up against the Boston Celtics in a repeat of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, Miami Heat warmed up in the worst way possible.
The Heat lost 119-116 to Toronto Raptors, with RJ Barrett putting up 37 points for the home team, and 23 from Scottie Barnes.
Tyler Herro scored 31 for the Heat, with Jimmy Butler only going for 17, matched by Terry Rozier’s contribution from the bench.
Toronto came out hot, winning the first quarter 34-24, and kept on top, and even an eight-point winning margin in the fourth for the Heat was not enough to rescue the game.
Bam Adebayo calls out teammates
Speaking post-game in the locker room, Bam Adebayo called out a lack of defensive effort from his team.
Adebayo explained: “I feel like we didn’t give enough effort, trying to impose our will on that end, and then we tried to rely on scoring to bring us back.
“We just got to get back in transition, that’s the biggest thing, we were scoring or miss a shot, they were taking off running and we didn’t get back.”
He added: “That side of the ball really matters to winning, it contributes to winning, defense wins championships and we can’t get over that hump unless we all buy in.”
These comments shine a light on the Heat’s performance, and really show why they are .500 for the season.
Tyler Herro added that the poor start cost them: “We didn’t come out with enough energy and effort and that’s the result you are going to get.”
Herro previously admitted that starting games poorly has been an issue for the team, while Jimmy Butler has admitted the team’s roster is not good enough.
Jimmy Butler injury concern
There was a concern late for Miami as Jimmy Butler left the game with an apparent knee injury.
Speaking post-game he said it was too early to tell anything, commenting: “I don’t know. We’ll see how it feels when I get up in the morning.
“When we land in Boston we figure it out.”
Butler has struggled with injuries this season and the quick turnaround against the Celtics makes it a tough ask to be back at 100 per cent.
