Fontecchio, Jaquez Jr., Powell, Adebayo, Spoelstra | Postgame Interviews | December 6, 2025

Fontecchio, Jaquez Jr., Powell, Adebayo, Spoelstra | Postgame Interviews | December 6, 2025

Simone, obviously not not the result you guys are looking for as a as a team. I’ll start with you personally though. Um getting going offensively, scoring 20 points tonight. I believe that was a season high. Um how do you sort of take the the benefits of this game on a personal level and continue to compound on them? I mean, it’s always good to have a good game, you know, once in a while, of course. and uh just to to give you a little bit of confidence. Of course, I would have trade for a with a win, of course, because we we kind of needed that, you know, we lost now three games in a row and uh we needed this one, especially at home, but you know, we look forward to the next one. We know it’s a it’s a very important game for us and uh definitely getting forward to go back in the gym on Monday and work for the game on for Tuesday against Orlando. You mentioned it yourself. That’s three straight losses for you guys for the really the first time this season. So, what do you think the biggest contributing factor has been to that slide? Uh, I think well, we definitely could have been better all three games on defense. Uh probably also like other teams around the NBA are scouring us a little bit more on the on the offensive offensive end and uh it’s turning a little bit hard for us to you know to find our rhythm, find our pace, find our flow and uh it’s got to get back to that. You know, it’s as I said, we looking forward to go back on Monday in the gym and work on that. And uh I’m sure we’re going to be better on Tuesday. this Tuesday game, a rematch with the Magic who just played last night. You know, played him a few times already this season. So, um the intensity of of a knockout round, how much are you looking forward to that? And what what will it take for you guys to be able to rebound and get that W? It’s going to be great. It’s going to be like a playoff game. Absolutely. So, you’re definitely excited. We know what’s a stage and uh we’re definitely packing for Vegas, too. So, we’ll see. We’ll see what’s going to happen. Thank you, Sony. Hime. Obviously, you know, things got off to a a sluggish start for you guys and seemed to continue throughout the game. What do you think was the biggest factor toward, you know, this type of performance tonight? Uh, we I think we just weren’t playing our game. Um, our pace wasn’t there. Uh, defensively, we weren’t initiating. We weren’t making our presence felt. Um, and, you know, linger that was lingering all the way throughout the fourth quarter. I mean, obviously, they got the lead. We try to, you know, crawl our way back, but you know, we just we just didn’t bring it today. Obviously, second night of a backto-back, how much does that sort of contribute to this one as you now have backto-back games here where that pace really wasn’t there? Yeah, I mean, no excuses. Uh we didn’t show up. Uh we knew we needed to get this win. Um we we didn’t have it today. You personally had a a performance on the offensive end and and seemed to really keep the energy going with that group toward the end of the game. What did you see from that group as you, you know, started to make a little bit of a run there to get back that that you liked? Yeah, you just trying to be persistent, just keep vocalizing that we want to have pride. We don’t want to, you know, go out sorry. Um, you know, no matter score is, we want to play hard. We want to play to win. Um, whether we’re up 20, down 20, we want to play the same way. So, that’s kind of what I was echoing to the team. And then finally, you know, you guys now go back to on Tuesday, another match up with this team. It feels like you played him quite a bit. Um, but should feel sort of like a playoff atmosphere for you. Knockout. So, how do you guys bounce back and and get a W in that one? Um, we just rest tomorrow, practice on and uh just learn from learn from this, learn from this game, learn from the Orlando game and try to get back in the win column. Thanks. Thank you. Norm, we know that NBA teams go through blips during the course of a season. when you get into one of these things where you’ve lost four or five cause for concern, cause to sort of sit back and hit Monday’s practice hard sort of where’s the the concern meter right now for you guys? Um I don’t think we’re we’re too concerned um right now, you know, um uh if you look at the four and five and go back and see um how we lost those games and where we’re at, you know, um it we could easily be, you know, uh five and four and four and one, you know. Um but uh uh just uh got to get back to who we are, back to our identity offensively, defensively. Um especially this game, you know, um no excuse coming back um off of back to back. Um but you know, just uh tightening up the little things um and how we want to play um the flow and the play style that we want to uh get back to and that we’ve we’ve been having throughout the course of the year so far. Um but yeah, I think that’s the biggest thing. You know, we’re going to tighten some things up. Uh take tomorrow off. um let our bodies rest and recover and come back Monday, watch some film, uh see how we can get better and then uh get ready for um Orlando again. Norm, the pace has really kind of slowed the last week or so. Um how much of that is a reason for this these recent struggles and what have teams done maybe to slow you guys down? Yeah, I mean, honestly, uh I think it’s really what the the the league is doing when we start playing these uh teams, you know? I think uh we’ve played uh you know, the top top five, top six defenses, uh in the last couple games. you know, you got Dallas, Orlando. Um, and, uh, I think they’ve, uh, did a good job of, uh, you know, denying our first actions and things like that taken away. Um, uh, especially, uh, when I’m not playing with Tyler, you know, they’re they’re really keen on us. Um, so, uh, it’s making other guys have to make plays. Um, but I think they just been, uh, keying in on denying our, um, our reversals and things like that. And now we got to get to um making second and third movements, you know, from their denials, back cutting, um sacrificing ourselves um to open up uh driving lanes and things like that uh for the guys that have the ball. Um but I mean, we knew this was going to happen. You know, we kind of surprised everybody with the pace. Um and now they’re ready for it. So, um it’s on us to, you know, play a little smarter knowing that they’re going to be denying and u making it tough from our our first actions. You know, it’s going to be second or third bar versus beat um their defenses. Norm, just because he’s been such an engine uh for everything you want to do in terms of your identity, but also doing it without turning the ball over. What were you missing without Dave on tonight? Uh just his uh his energy and his effort. You know, u you know, coach calls him a reckless guy. You know, he’s the one that’s uh uh really flying around every possession. um you know, surprising guys with the ball, double teaming them, um playing passing lanes, you know, um being that that extra defender um u and the help. Uh but you just miss his uh his energy and uh his physicality on defense. Um really getting into the ball, making it tough for guys. You know, we kind of uh follow off of that, you know, and uh we’re looking at who’s going to be um that guy tonight. Um, you know, I think we had small moments of it, but um, nothing that was able to be sustained over a full 48, uh, minute game. Um, so, uh, we know how important D Mitch is to, um, what we do offensively and defensively. You mentioned teams denying that first action, but is there anything you notice they’re doing with maybe taking away the three ball? I know you guys didn’t get up as many attempts as you want to see last night and just stuff off the catch. Is there anything, I guess, an adjustment you’re noticing from from defenses? Honestly, I think we’re um we’re passing up a lot of uh shots, you know, that we weren’t really passing up earlier. Um I don’t know if it’s a a little bit of overthinking or, you know, um uh trying to overwork the offense. You know, sometimes, you know, the the best shot is the is the first open one. Um and I think uh you know, sometimes we get caught up in uh we don’t want to take this one, so now we’re redriving uh a drive instead of uh if a drive happens, we uh kick it out and it’s another swing pass. Um I think uh we’re missing those moments. um right now and I think uh we’re going to clean that up uh Monday, you know, once we watch the film and see um how we can get better uh offensively um and take what the defense has given us and u make the plays that are in front of us. Bam. With these four losses in the last five games, where does the concern meter stand and what do you see as the common thread that has led to this little bit of a dip? Uh um you know, we got to get stops. Uh that’s the biggest thing on on the radar. We got to get stops and then also we just got to move the ball. Um I feel like that’s been the biggest concern like just moving the ball uh and playing more uh in closeouts and in transition. Bam. Um the pace has really slowed the last week or so. Um how much of that has to do with the struggles you guys are going through right now and what have teams done? Maybe just slow things down a little bit for you guys. Uh you know this is the most I’ve seen team go zone against us. Uh and then obviously when they make a shot they’re trying to press up so we can’t run in transition. Uh so those two things but you know we’re you know we have one of the best coaches in the league. We’ll we’ll find a counter at some point. We’ll find a counter and uh get back to having this this fast pace and and playing with this type of energy. Bam. Just because he’s been in the lineup all season, what did it feel like with the offense in terms of playing to your identity without Dave on tonight? Uh slightly reckless. Uh you know, he had such a incredible energy sometimes. you know, it’s some of those like certain buckets that you need uh out of nowhere and he just finds a way to get one. Um, but also on the defensive end, you we we all know what DaVon brings to that side of the ball. So, uh, and then like I said, he’s the head of the snake when it comes to pushing our pace in transition. with this kind of new style of offense, was it always sort of maybe a an expectation that teams would try to adjust to it and and this would this stretch would kind of happen and how important is Monday going to be especially in trying to you know look for that counter? Uh, I mean, you you know, people start, you know, they start scouting us and, uh, figuring out ways they can shut our water off in transition cuz we play so fast. But for us, it’s really, uh, like I said, moving that ball, limiting our turnovers, and, uh, getting shots on goal. Coupe, lead us off. I’ll take it. uh just kind of talking about just can you talk about the offensive and defensive activity level on both sides because obviously led by Lavine who just kept making it and it seemed like they really carried the stride throughout it. Yeah, I mean we didn’t have a lot of juice um you know on on either end of the floor. Um you know uh and when Lavine got going on his first uh two threes and then he hit that that third one on a pick and roll pull up um you could tell that he was in in a great flow and we weren’t doing a whole lot to disrupt him from that. Um yeah, I I would say it was equally um you know, some of our inefficiency offensively that led to, you know, some of our inactivity uh defensively. Um it was not one of our our finer uh games, but um we’ll regroup. I want guys to get as much rest as possible. We have a practice day, which is good. And I think we do need to get back in the gym and uh and just fine-tune some things and get ready for Tuesday. I know you always have enough, but just because there was a looseness to the offense tonight, even when you were playing at speed, what what were you missing in terms of DaVon’s kind of quarterbacking what you’re trying to do? Yeah, just some of the um you know, decision- making. I I don’t like to talk about his assist turn ratio too much because I don’t want him thinking about that. You know, uh you’re going to make some miscues. I trust him with the ball. I trust his decision. He’s he’s our engine. Uh you know, he gets the ball where it needs to go. He he helps with our pace. Um he just has a good feel. You know, he he he understands what we’re trying to do. U because he’s he’s a he’s an IQ player. Um, but that’s not an excuse. Like, you know, this could have been a different kind of game. It would have had to be that kind of game. You know, we didn’t have a lot of juice tonight. So, it probably would have been similar to the Orlando game. You just you find a way to gut it out uh at the end. And that’s probably my biggest takeaway right now is can we win some games where it’s it’s not at our identity. We’ll work on it Monday. We’re going to work on on uh getting more consistent to how we want to play, but this is the NBA. It’s not always going to go exactly how you want it to go. The the competition has something to say about it. Uh but the uh mental toughness that great teams figure out is you just you figure out a way to win. You figure out what the what the the feel for a game is and um it might have to be an ugly win. And uh we’ll get there on that as well. Thought process in starting Haime over Kell at the start of the second half. just looking for some juice, looking for something to kickstart um just some energy. Um didn’t really work out that way, but uh I don’t know necessarily what would have it wasn’t it wasn’t an indictment on on Ko. Seems like the last few games pace has slowed down a little bit. How much of that is not playing what you want to play and maybe some of the opponents kind of adjusting? Both for sure. you know, if you develop an identity, um, after 20 games, the league scouts you. Uh, so they’ll put together a game plan, you know, um, but if you’re doing something well, then you have to, you know, put more effort, more intention, more detail, uh, in in doing it. Uh, and that’s what the really good teams, you know, figure out. You don’t let teams take you out of of what you need to do. Um, that’s why, you know, the practice day will uh will be important. Obviously, it would be more if it’s in a win, but for someone like Simone, how good is it for you to see it, for he to see the ball go through the hoop and maybe get him off that sort of rough patch that he’s been, how helpful can this be? I think it’s probably feels good for him. Um, you know, for us, we know the value that he brings. One way or another, he he gives you the gravity, but all the other details uh we’ve been really uh encouraged by, you know, the the team defense, you know, that he provides. He’s very detailed. He’s intentional. Um he wants to to uh do the right thing defensively. He also has a toughness about him. He handles his own uh under the basket, you know, rebounding against bigger players. He he sticks his nose in there. Um, so the shooting you you have to be able to to weather those kind of storms in a long NBA season for shooters. So, you know, I always, you know, like to tell those kind of guys, can you miss 10 straight and shoot your 11th as if you you made 10 in a row? Um, he has that kind of mentality. So, uh, he’ll be just fine.

SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8bZbiKoPNRi3taABIaFeBw

Simone Fontecchio, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Norman Powell, Bam Adebayo and Erik Spoelstra spoke to the media following Saturday night’s game vs. the Sacramento Kings.

0:00 Simone Fontecchio
2:03 Jaime Jaquez Jr.
3:47 Norman Powell
8:07 Bam Adebayo
10:40 Erik Spoelstra

MIA vs. SAC Boxscore:
https://www.nba.com/heat/gamedayhub?gameID=0022500354

Coup’s Takeaways 📝:
https://www.nba.com/heat/news/coups-takeaways-lavine-kings-early-lead-no-heat-comeback-120625

#NBA #Basketball #NBABasketball #MiamiHEAT #HEATCulture #HEATNation