MIAMI — As the Miami Heat took flight Sunday for Monday night’s start of their five-game western swing against the Golden State Warriors, the most intriguing aspect might have been what was under lock and key.
Because no sooner did the Heat shock the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder 122-120 Saturday night at Kaseya Center, than guard Norman Powell noted a super-secret stat that he said provided the motivation to bounce back from Thursday night’s discouraging home loss to the Boston Celtics from 19 up.
“We have a goal in mind,” Powell said, “Coach gave us a stat from last year, and we want to reach that. Definitely felt a little let down after the Boston game. But the way we came together in between the games and talked about it, watched film, I thought we came out and set the right tone and played to our identity.”
And that stat from Erik Spoelstra was?
“That’s between us,” Powell said. “That’s internal, something that we want to reach for.”
A logical place would be the possession game. The Heat closed Saturday night’s victory over the defending-champion Thunder with 111 shots from the field to 77 for the Thunder, a statistic built on committing only four turnovers while forcing 15 and a 33-9 edge on second-chance points, with 21 offensive rebounds to the Thunder’s five.
“We were able to sustain our identity offensively, defensively, throughout the course of the game,” Powell said, perhaps offering his own hint.
It is an approach that works only when the buy-in is complete.
“We’ve got to be a team that’s collectively making plays to help win us the game,” Powell said. “Some nights it’s not going to be yours and some nights it is. But as long as we’re pulling in the right direction, pouring encouragement and confidence into everybody that’s coming in the game and everybody is making winning plays and sacrifice plays, that’s what it’s about.
“And I think we found a blueprint, and we know the blueprint, and it’s on us to sustain it.”
So far, little has been sustained on the road, with the Heat in the midst of a season-worst three-game road losing streak, at 7-13 away from Kaseya Center.
With Saturday night’s victory, the Heat have now defeated the leaders in both the East (Detroit Pistons) and West (Thunder) this season, while also losing to the worst in the East (Indiana Pacers) and second-worst in the West (Sacramento Kings, a team the Heat face on Tuesday night on the second night of the trip).
“The thing about this team,” Powell said, “is we can beat anybody and we can lose anybody. It’s all about our mentality and our approach and being collective.”
The victory over the Thunder concluded a three-game homestand that opened with a victory over the resurgent Phoenix Suns, featured that competitive game against the Celtics, and then Saturday’s stunner.
With the Heat at 22-20, Spoelstra is not overstating where his team stands. But he is optimistic.
“All three of these games,” Spoelstra said of the homestand, “you see a Miami Heat competitive collective will out there. And that for sure, we’ll build on. It’s a great opportunity in front of us. We have a whole second half of the season to go. This should set up to be a lot of fun.”
Center and team captain Bam Adebayo said no matter the stats being preached by Spoelstra, it’s just as much about a matter of will.
“He’s a maniac,” he playfully said of Spoelstra’s drive. “He’s not going to stop. He’s going to keep saying it until, like, everybody buys in. And you want a coach like that. He cares about the small details. He cares about the way our offense looks. He cares about how we give effort on defense.
“And when you buy in, you get gratifying wins like this. This is not because we played a certain game. It’s really because we bought into what he was preaching.”
Herro stays back
Guard Tyler Herro, who missed Saturday’s game with a rib contusion, did not travel with the team Sunday.
Asked about Herro having already missed 31 games this season, Spoelstra said Saturday, “There’s going to be daily stuff that happens with everybody. We can’t necessarily look at because you missed the first part of the year that you’re not going to have your normal things that happen in an NBA season. This shouldn’t be long-term. We’ll just continue to treat him and see how he responds.”
Davion Mitchell (shoulder) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. appear tracking toward a Monday return, with both upgraded to probable for Monday.