Bam Adebayo and Norman Powell both scored 20 points for the Miami Heat on Monday but they were still not enough as they fell to the equally struggling Toronto Raptors, extending their losing steak to six.
The Heat came to the game with some sense of desperation with their recent struggles. They played like that but only until the first half of the fourth quarter when the Raptors broke out and pulled off the 116-106 victory.
Brandon Ingram led everyone in scoring with 28 points while Scottie Barnes had an all around game of 17 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 assists, and 3 blocks.
Adebayo and Powell thinks it is the defense that is suspect for them.
“Its the defensive end im worried about. Even if we don’t score 140 and score 96, we can still win. Everybody has to be on the same page,” Adebayo told reporters after the game.
Powell thinks they are losing their defensive identity
Norman Powell wants to see the Heat get back to a defense identity
“We shifted a little because our offense was so great. We thought oh we could come in a score and everybody get their shots… The identity of who we have to be is going to have to be a defensive minded team”
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— Heat Central (@HeatCulture13) December 16, 2025
Miami Heat’s first game below 100 points
Heat, who played without their All-Star Tyler Herro, scored just 96 points. This is the first time this season they failed to reach the 100-point mark.
Adebayo thinks he and his teammates are not that sharp anymore from the three point line.
“We overthink our 3s. Sometimes I think we are too open,” he said.
“We double drive and drive into traffic. A lot of this can get figured out just get to the drawing board and back to the basics.”
Heat shoot 36.9 percent per game from beyond the arc but against the Raptors, they went nine out of 31 or 29 percent. They went 24 percent in loss to the Orlando Magic and 29 percent again when they fell to the Sacramento Kings last week.
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