Miami is looking to return to the NBA Finals with a 33-26 record.
While the Miami Heat lost At the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night, it was a familiar sight as the two teams faced off in last season’s NBA Finals, where the latter won in five games. In an interview with Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes, head coach of the Heat Eric Spoelstra and star Bam Adebayo spoke candidly about his fall in the championship series, as first said It was hard “.
“It’s hard. There’s no doubt about it,” Spoelstra said. “There’s no consolation in coming this far and failing. But it happened, and you have to take responsibility for it and also pay tribute in Denver. They were fantastic in this series and they deserved it throughout.
However, Spoelstra’s state of mind is don’t let disappointment drown them, but fear can be used to lift them up even further. He would go into detail saying that on the other end, “winning can be the worst teacher” and “losing sometimes, unfortunately, can be the best.”
“Sometimes pain can be the engine for the greatest collective growth in this profession. Sometimes winning can be the worst teacher, and sometimes losing, unfortunately, can be the best teacher,” Spoelstra said. “And that pain can sometimes motivate you and drive you to a necessary level. The one thing we all realized is that we need and need to reach a higher level to be able to complete the job.
Bam Adebayo talks about his NBA Finals loss
For Spoelstra, he has been to six NBA Finals, twice involving Bam Adebayo who has been a foundational part of the Heat since he was drafted in 2017. While he’s still searching for his first championship, he spoke candidly about how he was reeling from the loss.
“You can’t really put a timetable on getting over a Finals loss, because there are times when you’re just eating and you might see a basketball and you just start thinking about it,” Bam said Adebayo via Bleacher Report. “So you can’t really set a timetable. »
During the NBA Finals, Adebayo averaged 21.8 points, 12.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists in the five games against the Nuggets. Looking more at the present on Thursday, he scored 22 points, grabbed eight rebounds and held off superstar Nikola Jokic for the most part.
Adebayo shares how the feeling of losing stayed with him
Even though Adebayo has proven himself to be a star in this league and continues to improve with each passing year, there is no doubt that the loss has stuck with him.
“I feel like it’s easier when you get lost in the season because then you worry about so many other things. And then once the game is over, you have almost a full month to do nothing,” Adebayo said. “So all you do is think about the fact that we lost and they won. Obviously you see all the celebrations and all the bullshit that’s going on. All you can do is nod and tip your cap because they won, but we want one for ourselves too.
Miami will try to return to the NBA Finals this season as they currently have a 33-26 record, which places them eighth in the Eastern Conference. Their next game is Saturday against the Utah Jazz.
About the Author
Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as associate editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school’s athletic programs since his freshman year at FAU University Press, where he was sports editor and editor-in-chief. He later covered FAU Sports for the Palm Beach Post.
