The moment was exactly why the Miami Heat made center Bam Adebayo their team captain at the beginning of the season.
The Heat were disappointed after Saturday's loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference playoffs. With the team in need of a boost, it was Adebayo who stepped up. According to Chris Haynes of TNT, Adebayo led a players' meeting in the locker room immediately after the loss.
"I was told he had some really choice words, some inspiring words and also he challenged his teammates to bring it," Haynes said during the pregame show in preparation for tonight's Game 4 at Kaseya Center. "... He opened up the forum, I was told, to everybody else to speak and have a word to say what they think is going wrong, say what they can do better."
That led to veteran Kevin Love taking the floor. Love, whose career is winding down, let the team know how much winning this series would mean to him.
"He stood up and said, `Listen guys, I don't know how much more basketball I have left in me so we cannot go out like this," Haynes said. "Bam told me, once he stood up and said that, that resonated with everybody in that locker room."'
So it appears have every bit of motivation needed tonight. They need it because a loss here puts them in a tough situation to win the series, especially with the Celtics hosting Game 5 at TD Garden with a chance to close things out.
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