The Miami Heat Fought to Find Their Rhythm on the Road

The Miami Heat’s first major road trip has come and gone and it had just a little bit of everything in it.

The blowout loss to start things off against the Lakers.

The come-from-behind overtime win against the Clippers. Perhaps, better known as the “Klay Thompson game”.

The loss to the red hot Golden State Warriors that exposed the Heat’s defensive struggles.

And lastly, the back-to-back wins over Sacremento and Utah.

The way the roadtrip started off was anything but positive for Miami. In that first game against the Lakers, the entire team looked depleated from start to finish. They were getting outpaced, over hustled and just appeared to be dejected.

Then came the Clippers game where the drama started way before gametime when Giannis was questionable with a wrist injury. Things looked to be heading into a downward spiral.

But then…Giannis started the game. Davion Mitchell was the lightning bolt that sparked the Heat straight out of the gates in Intuit Dome. And they had that early lead. Safe to say things were looking up until that Clipper’s come back before the Heat tied it up to send the game to overtime. And then THE SHOT to win it.

It was the “culture” win the Heat needed on the books to get them going. No way they were being stopped after that, right? Enter Steph Curry and the Warriors. But the loss to Golden State didn’t put a damper in Miami’s swagger. They charged on despite the twenty point loss and the questions surrounding Giannis’ health. And they capped off the trip with the back-to-back victories, marking the second winning streak of the season.

So now that the road trip has ended and before the Heat take on Cleveland for the NBA Cup group stage matchup, let’s grade the first major road trip of the season.

There was Resilience, if not Excellence

From a “culture” standpoint this trip gets the A. The way the team didn’t hang their heads after the way it all started, the way they started games off strong from the first whistle…that is what’s been expected of this team all season. They found that intangible that seemed to be nowhere in sight.

But defensively, this team still sits at a B-. There are weaknesses in the defensive scheme that are being exposed by better teams. And for the Heat – who expect themselves to be in the conversation with these better teams – how they fare against the Lakers, Warriors, Clippers not the Kings or Jazz is going to be the measuring bar for rating the defense.

Overall, the road trip gets a B, which based on how the season started, is a step in the right direction. Given Giannis stays healthy and they keep up this momenutm they’ve found, that should be an A in no time.