Miami Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra Calls Back-To-Back Losses 'Humbling'

The Miami Heat’s losses to the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks can be described many ways, such as injury-riddled and disappointing.

But the adjective coach Erik Spoelstra used was “humbling.”

"This last 22 hours was pretty humbling," Spoelstra said. "Being in control of the game in New York and having the opportunity to really do something good on the road trip, and then taking this lopsided L tonight. That's humbling."

These losses made the Heat recognize the need to take advantage of having a sufficient lead or healthy team. Otherwise, they are forced to compete in tight games or rely on the second unit to will them to victory.

Still, Spoelstra gave the team credit for their effort against Brooklyn and recognized the aggressiveness.

"There was definitely a competitive spirit," Spoelstra said. "I commend the guys for making that a fight at different times, and we were hobbled at different times. It was a pretty ugly game, and we were doing whatever we possibly could to keep it in striking distance, but we just weren't able to keep it to 6-8 points throughout the second half. It's frustrating, but it wasn't a matter of want or a lack of effort."

He said that despite the two losses, the Heat were overall successful over the last 10 games as a unit.

"Overall, we did what we set out to do," Spoelstra said. "We got to a higher level as a basketball team. We wanted to push ourselves to a different level than where we were. These two road trips pushed us to a better level, and that's what I was hoping for."

The Heat return home to play the Milwaukee Bucks (11-5) Tuesday night.

Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jaydenshome14@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.

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