Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo Says Fatigue Is An Issue On Defense

The Miami Heat's defense has struggled since the NBA All-Star break.

It reached a peak during Saturday's loss to the Brooklyn Nets. With a chance to further secure the No. 6 seed, the Heat responded with a thud by allowing the Nets to shoot 49 percent and make 18 3-pointers.

The result was an ugly 129-100 loss and a return to the No. 7 spot in the Eastern Conference standings. If the Heat are going to avoid the play-in tournament, they have to improve defensively.

Center Bam Adebayo thinks he knows the answer. After playing mostly zone the past weeks, the Heat switched because opponents adjusted. Playing so much man-to-man has led to fatigue issue according to Adebay.

"I'll say the lack of communication when we get fatigued," Adebayo said. "I feel like that's a big momentum shift. When guys get fatigued, we stop talking. It hurts us because we expect guys in certain places and they're not. I just feel like we have mental lapses when we get fatigued."

The Heat have a couple days to figure it out before Tuesday's game at the Toronto Raptors.

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