The Miami Heat are no strangers to fighting their way into the postseason. Over the last three years, they've carved out a familiar home in the eighth seed-gritty, resilient, and always in the mix, but constantly flirting with the play-in line.
With a 116-113 win over the Chicago Bulls on Thursday, the Heat showed flashes of a team ready to break that cycle. And if you ask team captain Bam Adebayo, the key to climbing out of that middle-tier purgatory is simple: defense, every single night.
“We know what we're capable of defensively,” Adebayo said after the win. “We got to keep doing it on a night-to-night basis. And once we figure that out, and we commit to that, we won't be in the seven or eight spot.”
He's not wrong. Miami currently ranks eighth in defensive rating-a solid mark, but one that doesn’t always show up on the scoreboard.
January, in particular, has been a rollercoaster. One night, they’re locking teams down.
The next, they’re letting games slip away due to defensive lapses. The Heat have the tools-they just need the consistency.
That starts with the starters, sure. But the bench has been just as critical, and one name that’s quietly making a case for more attention is Dru Smith. The guard turned heads in Chicago with three steals, showing off the kind of active hands and court awareness that Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra preaches.
“I think that's what we have to bring every night,” Smith said postgame. “And that's kind of what Spo was talking to us about after last game… If we bring that defense, our offense has been playing really well. So if we can do that, then we'll start putting games together.”
That’s been the story of Miami’s season so far: a team with enough offensive firepower to win games, but one that knows its identity is forged on the defensive end. Even without key rotation pieces like Norman Powell and Davion Mitchell, the Heat showed Thursday that they can still get stops when it matters. The challenge now is doing it consistently-especially in a stretch like this one, where they’ll face the Bulls twice more over the weekend due to a rescheduled game.
Spoelstra, never one to overhype a single win, made it clear what stood out to him.
“You could see the activity, the intent defensively,” he said. “And we have great respect for Chicago, how quickly they can put points on the board… heck of a win.”
At 26-23, Miami sits eighth in the East. That’s not where they want to be, but it’s also not where they have to stay.
The pieces are there. The defense is capable.
Bam says once they figure out the defensive issues they won’t be in the play-in👀
— 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙩𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 (@WadexFlash) January 30, 2026
“We know what we’re capable of defensively, it’s just a matter of we gotta keep doing it on a night to night basis and once we figure that out and we commit to that — we won’t be in the 7/8th… https://t.co/xjKCEQnTS1 pic.twitter.com/dh7utUSIyD
The leadership, from Adebayo to Spoelstra, is intact. What comes next is about execution, rhythm, and showing up with that same defensive fire every night.
The Heat aren’t just trying to survive the play-in anymore-they’re trying to leave it behind.