The Miami Heat was on a six-game losing streak and looked lost without their former leader, Dwyane Wade, anchoring the team. With the new faces and young talents leading the team, the Heat was struggling to start the 2016-2017 NBA season.
This was the Miami Heat's longest losing streak since 2008, via ESPN. The streak came to an end last Friday, Nov. 18, as the Heat bounced back with a 96-73 convincing win over the Milwaukee Bucks. All of the starters scored in double digits for the Miami Heat that included a solid performance from center Hassan Whiteside who had 12 points, 18 rebounds, two steals and seven blocks.
Miami lfound a new leader in Whiteside for much of the game. Starting point guard Goran Dragic also returned to the lineup for the Heat after missing the last three games due to injury. Dragic scored 16 points in 35 minutes.
On their next game last Saturday, Nov. 19, the Heat started a four-game road trip with a close 114-111 victory over the Washington Wizards and had its first winning streak of the season. Miami escaped stellar performances from the Wizards' one-two punch of Bradley Beal and John Wall who scored 34 points apiece. Whiteside again dominated from start to finish and had a huge 18-point, 18-rebound game to go along with three blocked shots for the Heat. Both the Wizards and the Heat have an identical 3-8 record coming into the game, according to Miami Herald.
The 114 points for the Heat were the highest they scored this season, as well as the 111 points scored by the Wizards were Miami's most points they have allowed this season. This proved that winning can be achieved even on a bad defensive night. In an interview after the game, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra addressed that the team has a long way to go but he was happy with the effort his team produced for the win. Spoelstra said that his team is getting along very well with learning their respective roles.
The Miami Heat enjoyed their first back-to-back victories and improved to 3-0 this season when scoring 100 points or more. The team is still missing the service of guard Justise Winslow due to a sore left wrist and his return is still questionable.
