Emotional. Infuriating. Riveting. Fluctuating. Chaotic.

These are a few adjectives used to describe the Miami Heat’s play-in victory over the Atlanta Hawks. But even more so to illustrate Miami’s 2024-25 season. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra says the victory Friday night reflected what the team had to endure all year.

“What we’ve talked about for so long was that we wanted to become worthy to win,” Spoelstra said. “When we were trying to fast-track and put this together in January and February, we were going through a lot of tough games. But we got to a point where it felt like we were worthy to win but we were losing. And that’s what was really frustrating.”

The Heat led the league with 15 blown double-digit losses, which shows their potential even with the inability to finish. They nearly added another against Atlanta, losing their early 17-point advantage as the game developed. The game nearly felt over once the Heat fell by six late in the fourth quarter.

Davion Mitchell and Tyler Herro answered the call, rallying Miami in the game’s final seven minutes. Mitchell’s nine-point overtime performance displayed what the new guard brings to the team.

“What I really love about this group is the adversity that we all collectively experienced together,” Spoelstra said. “We all viewed it as a gift, and it’s an amazing gift to be able to go through adversity and take on those hard lessons to try to improve for better growth and bigger opportunities. I think tonight was an encapsulation of that.”

Jayden Armant is a graduate of the Howard University School of Communications and a contributor to Miami Heat on SI. He can be reached at jaydenshome