As the Miami Heat promised a breakthrough amidst all the drama with star Jimmy Butler, they achieved a huge win on Tuesday night when they beat the Golden State Warriors. It had been a rough patch as started when the Heat lost by 36 points to the Utah Jazz in Butler’s first contest of his seven-game suspension then continued in Monday’s double-overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings, but it would be Kevin Love that possibly turned the team around.
It was revealed after Miami’s win over Golden State by Nikola Jovic that the team had a meeting that morning where they addressed what was needed to overcome their downfalls, especially with the cloud of Butler rumors attached. Jovic would cite Love as being “loud” during that meeting which inspired them to come out better than ever before via video from the FanDuel Sports Network. Love is seen as a locker room leader amidst unguaranteed minutes.
“It was all about the meeting we had this morning,” Jovic said. “Everything we talked about is how can we inspire each other. What the starting five did last night in two overtimes, played a lot of minutes, that kind of stuff has got to inspire other guys. Kevin Love was the one who was loud in that meeting and who wanted us to be better. That’s what we did today.”
Postgame, Niko shared that the team met this morning to focus on inspiring each other, with Kevin Love standing out as a powerful voice in the room.
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— HEAT on FanDuel Sports Network (@FanDuelSN_Heat) January 8, 2025
Nikola Jovic leads Heat to win over Warriors
Jovic would finish the game leading the team off the bench with 20 points on eight for 17 shooting from the field to go along with six rebounds and four assists. Five other players on the team scored double-digits like the Heat’s captain Bam Adebayo who had 19 points with nine rebounds and five assists as he spoke about having a victory like they did against the Warriors where they suffered heartbreaking losses according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
“It’s always good when you go through a brutal game like that and you get a bounce-back win,” Adebayo said. “Those are the ones that you really remember. Nobody really remembers the ones where you blow somebody out. But you remember the ones where you had to really fight for the win, 48 minutes.”
It would be Miami’s defense that shined as they held Golden State under 100 points which they are now 8-0 when doing that. Head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke about the team’s performance and how everyone would “rally around each other.”
“These are opportunities, when you have a real tough game last night and a quick turnaround, you can rally around each other or you can get overwhelmed and feel sorry for yourselves,” Spoelstra said. “We have a group that has great competitive character. And we’re working to get things right and get to a different level. I think all of these experiences are really important for us. “Even last night, as painful as that was, there were a lot of teaching points that in tonight’s game, we were better in those areas.”
The Heat continue with their six-game road trip as they face the Jazz on Thursday.
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