Udonis Haslem’s leadership shines despite Miami Heat's loss to the Atlanta Hawks in Play-In Tournament Game
Udonis Haslem seems to be giving it his all in his final postseason with the Miami Heat. Haslem has taken up a veteran mentor role over the last few years, and he continued executing that part to perfection during the team's 116-105 play-in tournament loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday.
With the team trailing for most of the game, Haslem gave his teammates a pep talk on the bench during a timeout as everyone, including the coaches, watched on. Here's a clip of the incident (via Hoop Central on Twitter):
Udonis Haslem trying to encourage the Heat.
https://t.co/biX1uDQGiu
Udonis Haslem plays a sporadic role on the Heat but remains an important contributor as a vocal leader in the locker room. He hasn't just earned respect from his teammates. Players and coaches from other teams have also praised Haslem for being a "real veteran" and ensuring he does his best as a locker room leader and mentoring young players.
Udonis Haslem may have played his final playoff game for the Miami Heat
The Miami Heat have blown the opportunity to make it to the playoffs as the seventh seed. They will now face the winner of the ninth vs. 10th placed teams and will have another shot at qualifying for the playoffs as the eighth seed.
The Heat will face either the Chicago Bulls or Toronto Raptors. Both teams could be a tough matchup for Miami. They have finished the regular season on a high. Miami has also posted a losing record against both teams. They went 0-3 against the Bulls and 1-3 against the Raptors in the regular season.
The Heat will have a homecourt advantage, but that didn't seem to make a difference against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday. Miami lacked intensity from the get-go as the Hawks outhustled them to a win.
Atlanta outrebounded the Heat 63-39 and took a 26-6 advantage on second-chance points. Miami also struggled to defend in the paint, leaking 64 points. Miami received contributions from Kyle Lowry (33 points) and Tyler Herro (26 points), but their superstars Jimmy Butler (21 points on 6-of-19 shooting) and Bam Adebayo (12 points on 5-of-12 shooting) underperformed massively.
The Miami Heat won't be able to afford another underwhelming performance from their superstars, or else they could be facing the possibility of missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
For the retiring Udonis Haslem, the 2022 NBA Playoffs would be the last knockout-round appearance of his career if the Miami Heat fail to win the eighth-seed game.