The Miami Heat played their second game of the season on Friday night in what was to be the first rematch of the new season between last year’s Eastern Conference Finalists. With the Heat dropping their first game of the season and at home to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night, they would have the chance to rectify things on Friday.
When you think about rectification from the Chicago game though, two names might have come to mind more than any others. That would be Bam Adebayo and Kyle Lowry.
Two guys with high expectations coming into this season, they didn’t have good games at all in the first contest and you could tell by their performances in the second contest. They both came out with a different energy.
Though Adebayo’s was literally present in his offensive aggressiveness early on and throughout, Lowry’s showed up more in the way he went about making other kinds of plays for his team, though he would have a pretty good offensive showing too.
The Miami Heat still haven’t gotten their first win of the year yet. And though that’s bad, their issue is readily apparent and a very fixable one.
Adebayo would finish with 19 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and two steals on 8-11 shooting from the floor. Lowry would finish with 17 points, four rebounds, six assists, and three steals of his own on just 4-13 from the floor but 3-7 from deep.
Though they would both make good on their showings in the season opener, the team would not. Just like their problem in the second half and down the stretch of that one, they failed to make key stops when they needed them the most.
And if a team isn’t good on defense, they just aren’t good. However, these are the Miami Heat in question here and them “just not being good” isn’t the case.
In the first two games of the season, they have found themselves, all too often, in positions of perplexity on defense. Whether they are a step too slow, failing to communicate, or just getting caught up in the action due to inefficiencies in their defensive execution, it isn’t so much a capability thing as it is a connectivity thing.
With no time to waste or rest, they’ll be right back at it on Saturday against the Toronto Raptors. With Kyle Lowry and Bam Adebayo back on track though, hopefully, the crucial stops in crunch time and generally, for that matter, will follow.
And that’s how they’ll finally log their first win of the season.