Erik Spoelstra challenges Miami with a Billie Jean King quote

With Miami Heat vs. Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night, the team looks to bounce back from Tuesday’s disastrous outing in which they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks without Giannis Antetokounmpo, 128-117. As it is The Heat are looking to avoid the play-in tournament for this season, head coach Erik Spoelstra they would talk about the pressure associated with the team.

Thursday’s game has some postseason implications, as while Miami is the eighth seed at 31-28, Philadelphia (32-26) holds the coveted sixth seed, the last spot a team can get to avoid the tournament in a game. With 23 games remaining, the Heat must turn around and win, which made Tuesday’s loss to the undermanned Bucks all the more painful, especially as Miami snapped its three-game winning streak.

When asked about the pressure the team has on them, Spoelstra would channel the legendary tennis player Billie Jean King with her latest feelings.

“Good. I hope so,” Spoelstra said when asked about the pressure Miami is under to avoid the playoffs, according to The Miami Herald. “That pressure is a privilege and I want our locker room to feel that pressure. We have to take our game to the next level.”

Norman Powell where the heat “messed up”

While it is Heat is the goal for the rest of the season In order to build some consistency to peak at the right time, that needs to start on Thursday, as a win over the 76ers would give them a tiebreaker, something that could be crucial for seeding purposes. However, the team needs to be better than it was Tuesday, especially defensively, which would allow Antetokounmpo-less Milwaukee to have success offensively.

Allowing quarters of 30 points in the first half and a 39-point stretch in the final frame, Miami also struggled offensively, not making a field goal in the game’s final six and a half minutes. Norman Powell would still point to defense as the Heat’s fault.

“Honestly, we just didn’t get enough stops,” Powell said after scoring 26 points. “They kept coming back to the same play. And there were too many times when we messed up. Sometimes we made it, sometimes we didn’t. And I think they were able to work through it, and they had confidence. And they started playing on the part, and we just weren’t able to hit the rates we wanted.”

Spoelstra would mention how the defense needs to travel in these vital games as the team looks to deliver on that idea for Thursday against the 76ers.