Loyal, Patient Heat Fans Receive Nice Reward With Big Win Over Rockets
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Fans of the Miami Heat received a rare treat on Tuesday night.
Back home for the first time in over two weeks, the underdog Heat pulled off a big upset win over the Houston Rockets.
The win marked the beginning of the second half of Miami's schedule. Game number 42.
Currently the Heat hold an unimpressive 12-30 record, good enough for 29th out of 30 NBA teams.
With a lack of true star power (no offense to Hassan Whiteside and Goran Dragic) and any semblance of a consistent supporting cast, not to mention a huge injury problem that has swept through the locker room, it's no surprise that Miami is having such a down season.
But after the Heat's big win over the Rockets, the team showed that they can be good enough to hang with anyone in the NBA.
With the team's struggles this season, fan enthusiasm has been hard to come by. The die-hards who have been watching the team religiously know all the reasons why.
There's been a cruel run of injuries. No Chris Bosh. And no number three, Dwyane Wade.
Without Wade, the Heat have dropped into irrelevance with the second worst record in the league. But the real fans shrug it off.
Loyal fans who still have faith were rewarded Tuesday night as the Heat cooled off the red hot Rockets with an exciting win, one that the team surely needed.
"It's not good when you're losing," said Heat guard Goran Dragic. "Tonight I'm gonna sleep well. knowing my body is not going to feel any pain when you win, so that's good."
"We've got nine new guys so I knew the transition wasn't going to be super easy but these guys, they really care about winning and that's the biggest thing," Heat center Hassan Whiteside added. "You know their heart is in the right place."
The Heat have urged season ticket holders to hang in there, proclaiming that the franchise's past is golden, and that the future will be bright.
If young players develop, and Pat Riley has some more wheeling and dealing up his sleeve, maybe the Heat can return to glory.
And they can look back on Tuesday's improbable win as a turning point.