The Miami Heat is currently going through a bit of a slump at the start of the new year. They’re in a three-game losing streak, having lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers, and, most recently, the Oklahoma City Thunder. This isn’t a great sign considering they had the return of their star player, Tyler Herro, from his toe injury.
Starting lineup inconsistencies
The Heat’s captain, Bam Adebayo, recently spoke on their issues with the starting lineup that has been in question since the start of the season. He spoke to the media after their game against the Pacers, saying that “it’s a process”, via video from Heat Central on X.
“This is like the third game we’ve been fully healthy for the whole season, so it’s going to take some time. Guys have been in and out of lineups, plug and play, we’re trying to figure it out. So hopefully we can stay healthy and get through this bump and get back to winning some games.”
So far, that hasn’t been the case since their next game followed a battle against the defending champs, the Thunder. The Heat would lose 124-112, dropping their record to 20-19 as the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. What’s clear is that there needs to be a change in the starting lineup.
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One of the starters could potentially come off the bench and provide a much-needed momentum boost for the second unit. However, each member of the first unit deserves a starter spot due to their contributions. Davion Mitchell starts at the point guard position, Tyler Herro at the shooting guard, Norman Powell at the small forward, Andrew Wiggins at the power forward, and Bam Adebayo at Center when everyone’s healthy.
It's clear that Bam, Herro, and Powell's spots are stamped for the foreseeable future. It’ll be interesting to see if Heat's head coach, Erik Spoelstra, could make a lineup change, potentially bringing players like Kel’el Ware or Pelle Larsson temporarily to serve a starter spot even with everyone healthy in the rotation.
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