- The Miami Heat are looking to recreate the magic from last season where they went from being the eighth seed to reaching the NBA Finals in a miraculous run. However, they first have a play-in tournament matchup Wednesday against the Philadelphia 76ers as Heat stars Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro spoke about their confidence level heading into the contest.
Miami has momentum as despite being unable to avoid the aforementioned tourney, they ended the season on a two-game winning streak, both against the Toronto Raptors at home. After the regular season finale win, Adebayo said that the Heat are going into the outing facing the 76ers “confident.”
“We’re going to go out there, play and compete and let the chips fall where they may…We’re going into this confident,” Adebayo said. “We’ve had a lot of ups and downs throughout this season, these past seasons actually, and this is the time of the year where our backs are against the wall and you start to find out who everybody is.”
While there is no doubt that Adebayo will be crucial going into this game on both ends of the floor, his teammate in Herro will also be integral as a spark Miami needs on offense to match Philadelphia’s stars like Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Herro himself spoke about the upcoming matchup and said that because the two teams have battled before, “we know what we’re stepping into.”
“Just take it to another level, this is the time of the year where hopefully it can bring the best out of us. Individually and as a team, we want to be playing our best basketball at this time of the year,” Herro said. “Obviously, we played Philly multiple times and we know what we’re stepping into. It won’t be easy, but it’s a challenge that us competitors are looking forward to.”
