MIAMI – It was a great Wednesday night for the Miami Heat as they beat the Atlanta Hawks at home after a rough stretch losing six of their last seven games. While the Heat felt they were close to a breakthrough, there were some interesting perspectives from figures within the team that could have brought back optimism to the group.
As star Tyler Herro and head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke about the victory, Duncan Robinson mentioned the significance of a win like they had Wednesday. Robinson was a huge component of the win as he scored 24 points off the bench, shooting nine of 16 from the field and, six of 13 from three-point range,o along with six assists and five rebounds.
He said that the team’s performance brought back “that belief that we’re capable,” as he made sure to mention that one “can forget pretty quickly” depending on where a specific unit is at any point in the season.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s great to win and win at home and, you know, just kind of get back into that belief that we’re capable,” Robinson said. “This league is really, really challenging. Obviously, it’s hard to win games. You can forget pretty quickly as a group what you’re capable of. So it’s always good to just kind of have a little reminder. I think it’ll be a good reference point for us moving forward, about what we’re capable of.”
Duncan Robinson said the win at home was good to help the “belief” come back with the group. #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/JDivhhh1T4
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) February 27, 2025
Tyler Herro on the win and the opportunity in front of the Heat
It has been a tough past few weeks for the team as the Heat have blown several double-digit leads heading into the fourth quarter, but that was rectified against the Hawks as they sustained their advantage. Plus, after a dreadful shooting night in the Heat’s loss to Atlanta on Monday, they were much better this time around shooting 59.2 percent from the field and 54.8 percent from deep, resulting in the second-highest point total with 131.
Compare that to Monday where Miami shot 32.1 percent from the field and only made seven three-pointers out of 40 attempts leading to the second-lowest point total at 86. Herro, who led the team with 24 points and 10 assists, expressed to ClutchPoints how gratifying the win in the rematch was.
“Yes, anytime we can get a win right now, we’re happy,” Herro said. “By one point, half a point, 30 points, whatever it is, we’ll take the win. And we just want to try to build off this, like we’ve been saying, there’s a great opportunity for us here with, you know, this home standard. We want to be able to, you know, just attack it and just continue to get better every day.”
Asked Tyler Herro though it’s only one game, was a win like this at home gratifying with what the team has been through.
“Anytime we can get a win right now, we’re happy…we wanna try to build off this, there’s a great opportunity with this home stand…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/hF8nKaiXOw
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) February 27, 2025
Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on if the win over the Hawks was needed
Subsequently, the Heat started a home-heavy portion of the schedule where the team needed to capitalize right from the get-go as Wednesday was a big step in the right direction. Spoelstra would answer if a victory like this was needed for the team while adding on how “it hasn’t felt like we played here in forever.”
“Yeah, it probably helps. I mean, the cool thing is, it hasn’t felt like we’ve played here in forever,” Spoelstra said. “It’s set up to have a really fun March run here. None of it is guaranteed being at home, obviously, you know, certainly the way we played at home earlier in the year. But it could be, could be a lot of fun. Everybody’s been, you know, great. And you know, you have to, like, look at things objectively.”
“Sometimes you have to look at it the next day just to see where we are, and we can’t get all these wins in one night, we can’t,” Spoelstra continued. “But the work, the intention has been there, including, you know, this morning, it was a great shoot around. That doesn’t guarantee anything, but you were prepared, you are happy to see tonight where everybody can really enjoy the experience with the fans.”
Erik Spoelstra speaks about the win and if it’s gratifying because of what the team has dealt with in the past few weeks. #HeatNation
“It probably helps. The cool thing is it felt like we haven’t played here in forever. It’s set up to have a fun March run…” pic.twitter.com/NszgORc7t7
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) February 27, 2025
Erik Spoelstra wants Heat to live “in the present moment”
While the Heat still have flaws to work through, Wednesday night could be used as a stepping stone in getting to the standard they are aspiring to achieve. However, Spoelstra doesn’t want to celebrate too quickly as he explains that they are “living in the present moment.”
“It’s one game. I know that sounds like Coach speak, but it really is,” Spoelstra said. “We’re living in the present moment. I commend the group after every tough day we come in, you know, with a great approach just to focus on the task at hand. And we have to do the same thing. It’s Heat-Pacers. Set up to be a great Friday night in this arena.”
“It’s one game, I know it sounds like coach speak but it really is. We’re living in the present moment…It’s Heat-Pacers, set up to be a great Friday night in this arena…” – Erik Spoelstra #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/9dCrfRqDf9
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) February 27, 2025
As Spoelstra said, the Heat next face the Indiana Pacers on Friday night as the home stand continues with the team now at 27-30 which puts them eighth in the Eastern Conference.
The post How the Heat got back their ‘belief” after huge win over Hawks appeared first on ClutchPoints.
