LOS ANGELES — Expectations entering this season were sky high for Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Miami Heat. But through the first seven games, this Heat team has struggled to stop anybody and boasts a concerning 2-5 record in the midst of a tough, early-season road trip.
Miami dropped the first of their five-game West coast road trip, 138-117. The Heat allowed the Lakers to shoot 57.3 percent from the field, 44.2 percent from three, and committed 19 turnovers leading to 18 points. Luka Doncic led the way for LA with 42 points, 13 assists, seven rebounds, and two steals. His 13 dimes directly led to 31 points, meaning Doncic was responsible for 73 of the Lakers' 138 points on the night.
Through the first seven games of the year, the Miami Heat have the fourth worst defensive rating in the league, allowing 119.8 points per 100 possessions. What's saved them is their 113.8 points scored per 100 possessions, good for 12th in the league.
Why has the defense been such a struggle in the early portions of the season?
“I think we've got to truly trust each other on that end,” star Bam Adebayo said after the loss against the Lakers. “We think we give enough, and it's not. I feel like we've got to full-on trust each other, because a lot of times, I feel like fatigue sets in, we stop communicating, and that's when mistakes happen, that's when the lack of effort is there. We've got to figure it out because no team is gonna be like, ‘we'll stop shooting threes on y'all.'”
Adebayo scored 16 points with nine rebounds and four assists while Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists on the night. Miami scored 72 points in the first half and trailed, a point that clearly frustrated head coach Erik Spoelstra.
Clearly, the offensive end hasn't been the issue.
“We're not playing hard enough,” Antetokounmpo added after the loss. “We've got to play hard. We've got to have some pride. We've got to have some pride, individual pride first of all. And then we've got to keep one another accountable and trust eone another defensively. Right now, we don't trust one another. We're not giving that extra effort. We did it for two games, but we keep having bad habits creep up. Hopefully against the Clippers we can be better. Again, effort, individual pride, and trust. We've got to have those three things.”
On paper, this Miami Heat team should be good. They added an all-word defender in Giannis Antetokounmpo to an all-world defender in Bam Adebayo while retaining Andrew Wiggins and Davion Mitchell as part of their starting core.
The addition of shooters like Klay Thompson, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Bobby Portis should've helped balance this team out. Instead, the Heat defense was repeatedly dissected by Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and the Lakers to the point where wide open layups were given under the basket immediately after a made basket.
Article Continues Below“I can control my actions and what I do,” Antetokounmpo added. “Usually after a bad whopping like this, you've got to find a way to respond. I tend to respond. But it's 17 players in this locker room. This is what I'm saying about accountability. We've got to make sure we set the tone and other follow it. We've got to do a better job and it starts with me, it starts with Bam, Andrew, and Davion. We've got to set the tone. The starting group, it's almost like they're going through the motions. We can be better.”
The Heat will get a much easier opponent on Wednesday night in the form of the LA Clippers, who are 1-6 on the season and currently hold the longest losing streak in the league.
Miami still has time to figure out the kinks to their new-look roster, and Bam Adebayo vowed to find a way out of this rut.
“We've got to figure this out. Nobody is gonna come to save this ship. We've got to dig ourselves out of this hole. We've showed flashes of how we can be a great defense.”