Heat Vow to Rally After 'Embarrassing' 37-Point Game 3 Loss to Cleveland

Bam Adebamo, the Heat team captain, made his way to the post-game interview room on Saturday at a leisurely pace, seemingly gathering his thoughts.

He encapsulated all his thoughts using just the first two words he uttered when he arrived.

“It's embarrassing," Adebayo said.

A season that began, like many others, with high hopes seems poised to end in disappointment for the team in Miami. The Heat—having barely secured their spot after winning two away play-in matches just to advance from tenth place to eighth position in the Eastern Conference and make it into the playoffs—suffered their biggest playoff loss on record over the weekend, losing 124-87 against Cleveland.

The Cavaliers have taken a commanding 3-0 lead in the series and could complete a sweep with a win in Miami on Monday evening.

This is where we stand at present," stated Tyler Herro from the Heat team. "I informed my teammates that it's crucial not to drop the rope yet. We will continue until the very last second, be it in the following match, Game 5, 6, 7, or even beyond this series; persistence is key here. This is precisely why we get paid—to play relentlessly. It embodies our organizational ethos too. Our aim is to fight till the end because getting swept 4-0 isn’t part of our plan.

He realizes that Miami now confronts insurmountable challenges. No squad has ever come back from being down 3-0 in an NBA series. Despite this, the Heat almost created such a comeback two years prior during the Eastern Conference Finals against Boston—they had to secure victory in game seven away from home to prevent writing themselves into the annals of unwanted NBA records.

Yeah, but nobody had high expectations for us at the beginning of the series," Herro stated. "We'll have to wait and see how things unfold. The only thing I'm certain about is that we need to maintain a stronger mindset throughout the whole game.

The season for Miami has seen highs and lows, beginning with modest championship prospects — they were at +4000 odds as per BetMGM Sportsbook. At this time, Jimmy Butler remained part of the Heat squad, Jamie Jaquez Jr. had just completed his first-year All-Star performance, and Terry Rozier held down the position of starting point guard.

Butler got suspended three times and eventually got traded to Golden State. Jaquez and Rozier are out of the rotation. The Heat had a 10-game losing streak late in the season, finished the season 24th in points per game in a 30-team league, but fought their way into the playoffs anyway.

And now, this.

Just focus on the upcoming game on Monday," Adebayosaid. "It’s not worth reviewing the footage right now. Disregard this match and shift your attention to Monday.

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