MIAMI – As the Miami Heat continue to figure out their team led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, the team has been starting to get some victories, winning five of their last seven games after a 0-4 start ahead of Friday against the Cleveland Cavaliers. With the Heat and head coach Erik Spoelstra looking to build momentum after some recent success, the long-time figurehead for the team teases that a breakthrough could be coming soon.

If there's one aspect about Miami that has been the most frustrating, it's the defense as it entered Friday night 25th in defensive rating and in the losses, the team has been giving up 120.9 per 100 possessions. However, as the Heat have won five games in their last seven, as mentioned before, the defense has been better, giving up 109.9 points per 100 possessions.

Miami finds themselves turning that defense into offense, which has been a formula that Antetokounmpo, Spoelstra, Bam Adebayo, and others have been emphasizing. Recently, it's been working, but still a work in progress, though the coach would say that the team is “getting closer to an identity that can help us win games more consistently.”

“Our guys understand what the picture is, how we have to play. It's a matter of doing it consistently throughout the rotation,” Spoelstra said before Friday's NBA Cup group play game against the Cavaliers. “The other team always has something to say about it, but like I always say, it's whichever team can impose their identity more often than another team can impose whatever their identity is. That usually has the best chance to win. And in the games that we've won, we've been able to do that more often enough.”

Erik Spoelstra talks about the experience of the five-game West Coast trip and what they’ll build on in the five-game home stand: #Heat

“It was definitely a good experience to go through… some tough moments, and then work together to try to find some solutions. We're getting… pic.twitter.com/fucdkCYTcI

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A lot of that improvement came on the five-game West Coast road trip, where the team went 3-2, ending on a two-game winning streak.

Heat's Erik Spoelstra continues building towards their identity

There's no denying that the story right now for the Heat is how long it will be before the team plays at a level they expect of themselves, as it starts with the team continuing to build chemistry with Antetokounmpo. Individually, the two-time MVP has been everything fans expected, averaging 27.7 points, 12.2 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game while shooting 56.7 percent from the field before Friday.

That has also seen some improvement, as after Adebayo and Klay Thompson dealt with slow starts, the two have been playing much better alongside Antetokounmpo, among others on the roster. Especially Davion Mitchell, who has been instrumental as the team's starting point guard, averaging 16.5 points and 8.5 assists per game while shooting 49.6 percent from the field and 40.3 percent from deep ahead of the Cavaliers contest.

Still, defense remains the main priority for the Heat.

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“We have to develop the habits for it. I am encouraged that our locker room is pretty clear on how we have to defend and the kind of effort that we have to put forth on that side of the floor throughout the rotation, understand what we're trying to get accomplished defensively. That usually is the most important hurdle, and then that understanding, that's the domino that kind of gets all the dominoes going in the right direction.”

At any rate, Miami will look to use the five-game home stand to address their flaws, as after Friday's outing against Cleveland, they host the Detroit Pistons in the second game of the back-to-back on Saturday night.