Erik Spoelstra is an American professional basketball coach who is the head coach for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association.
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After returning from the All-Star break, Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra has addressed the team’s defensive difficulties. “We’re going to shore this all up,” he said. “That’s it. We’re going to shore it up. We’re capable of being much better defensively and that will happen tomorrow.”
During the break, the Heat, who are still ranked seventh in the NBA in defensive rating, have taken a step back. The squad was seventh in the league in defensive rating entering the All-Star break, allowing 111.2 points per 100 possessions. That has all changed in the team’s last 13 games since returning from the break. Throughout that span, Miami is 25th in the league in defensive rating, allowing 117.8 points per 100 possessions.
The Heat’s defense has been particularly bad recently, with four of the team’s six worst games in terms of defensive rating this season occurring after the break. Miami’s defeat to the Chicago Bulls was the team’s sixth-worst defensive performance of the season. On Saturday night, Miami conceded 113 points against the Bulls, losing by 14 points. The Heat fell to 38-34 on the season, moving them two games behind the Brooklyn Nets for the No. 6 spot in the Eastern Conference.
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The Heat returned to action on Sunday against the Detroit Pistons, one of the league’s poorest teams. They were the ideal opponent for Miami to turn things around against, something it sorely needs if it is to advance from the East’s play-in tournament bracket.
While the Heat still holds a two-game lead over the No. 8 seed Atlanta Hawks, based on their present ranking, they’d most likely face one of the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, or Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs.
None of those games would be easy, and the Heat has regressed from where they were at this time last season. Miami has several strong defensive players, like Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Gabe Vincent, Caleb Martin, and others, but the squad has lost its defensive edge since the break.
As a result, the Heat has gone 6-7 in their previous 13 games, preventing them from making any kind of surge in the rankings. With such a key stretch of the season remaining before the playoffs, Spoelstra hopes to concentrate his squad on defense.
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