Even After Falling in Hole, the Miami Heat Never Lost Confidence

The Miami Heat entered the postseason as the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference and began the NBA Finals as a huge underdog.

While they were never the favorites to outsiders, they always believed winning a championship was a possibility. They still feel that way even though they trail the Los Angeles Lakers 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. The Heat attempt to stave off elimination for a second time Sunday in Game 6 in Orlando.

"We have a goal," Spoelstra said. "We're fighting for a title. That's what it's going to require and our guys have an understanding. Through the first two games of this series, we realized this was a different level. We're going to have to get to a higher level. Our guys are extremely competitive. This level of play that the Lakers have brought is bringing out something different. Again, we can't sit up here and pat our backs too long. We've got to gear up and get ready for the next one."

The Heat survived Game 5 on the strength of forward Jimmy Butler's triple-double. After trailing 3-1, the Heat say they never lost hope.

"We know we can do it," center Bam Adebayo said. "We're trying to do something special. We just got to keep putting our hard hats on and keep playing like we've been playing."

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