Story by
Why Norman Powell, Heat aren’t ‘concerned’ over recent slump
- Story by
- Why Norman Powell, Heat aren’t ‘concerned’ over recent slump
The post Why Norman Powell, Heat aren't 'concerned' over recent slump appeared first on ClutchPoints .
MIAMI – With the Miami Heat losing to the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night, 127-111, it marks the team's fourth defeat in the last five games. As the Heat are missing players due to injury , like Davion Mitchell and Tyler Herro , it was still a disappointing performance, though there doesn't appear to be much concern from Norman Powell .
Advertisement
While there could be some fans who are concerned about Miami's recent stretch of games, seeing how opposing teams have been successful in slowing down their fast-paced style of offense, this is a natural development in the process. When the Heat implemented their new offensive philosophy with positive results, teams were going to scout it and find some solutions, as now it's the point in time where Miami needs to find a counter.
"I don't think we're too concerned right now," Powell said after scoring 18 points in the loss to Sacramento. "If you look at the four of five and go back and see how we lost those games and where we're at, we could easily be 4-1. But just got to get back to who we are, back to our identity, offensively, defensively, especially this game."
"No excuse coming back off a back-to-back," Powell continued. "But just tightening up the little things and how we want to play, the flow and the play style that we want to get ba,ck to and that we've been having throughout the course of the year so far. We're going to tighten some things up, take tomorrow off, let our bodies rest and recover."
Erik Spoelstra on the Heat's lack of "juice"
Rhona Wise-Imagn Images
After the Heat's tough loss to the Orlando Magic on Friday, the team had an excellent opportunity on Saturday to handle business against a Kings team that had five wins going into the contest. However, despite a fine start, Miami "didn't have a lot of juice" throughout the game, as said to ClutchPoints by head coach Erik Spoelstra.
Advertisement
More surprisingly, the defensive activity was a low point, as despite Mitchell's absence, the team hung their hats on that side of the floor, as Zach LaVine would finish the contest with 42 points, as each of his makes demoralized the Heat.
"We didn't have a lot of juice on either end of the floor," Spoelstra said. "And when LaVine got going on his first two threes, and then he had that third one on a pick-and-roll pull-up, you could tell that he was in a great flow, and we weren't doing a whole lot to disrupt him from that. Yeah, I would say it was equally some of our inefficiency offensively that led to some of our inactivity defensively."
"That was not one of our finer games," Spoelstra continued. "We'll regroup. I want the guys to get as much rest as possible. We have a practice day, which is good. I think we do need to get back in the gym and just fine-tune some things and get ready for Tuesday."
With Miami at 14-10, the team embarks on a four-game road trip starting Tuesday against the Orlando Magic in the NBA Cup quarterfinals, though Monday's practice will be crucial in fixing their current flaws.
Related: The 'reckless' nature that was missing in Heat's loss to Kings
Related: Heat's Erik Spoelstra downplays game plan changes amid Davion Mitchell injury
