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'Killer Instinct' or 'Just Business' with Heat

Originally posted on thePeachBasket | By Eric Labrador | Last updated Mar 4, 2026 12:50 AM ET

Is it a “Killer Instinct” or “Just Business” with the Heat? They have two games with the Brooklyn Nets this week. They won the first one tonight and play again on Thursday. The Heat can’t afford at all to lose to the Nets. But, they lost to the Jazz a few weeks ago and the Jazz were “tanking.” The point is, that in a sports contest with athletes, anything can happen.

“Mental toughness”

“Mental toughness” or “Killer Instinct” as psychologist Megan Melchiorre Tedder writes on her Medium page is:

“Killer instinct is something we all desire as an athlete, parent, or coach. It’s not a skill I believe can necessarily be taught, rather influenced through failures, lessons, and an environment that encourages hard work and the process.“

The Heat players and coaches have worked hard this season and have had tough losses. The game on Thursday against Brooklyn and the next night against Charlotte boil down to quarters, minutes, seconds, coach’s challenges, practices, etc. Each player, in his own way, makes every intention and movement, deliberate.

How to be a professional

The professional basketball player needs to have a daily routine on game days and non-game days. Steph Curry’s daily schedule is regimented. Another basketball player, Joe Alexander, said recently that the life of a basketball is dealing with constant injury. The competitiveness is “feeling caged” during a basketball game and the desperation of wanting to win and go home.

Heat players mental toughness needs to flow from the fact that “Brooklyn has already checked out for the season.” Charlotte “has won games but they haven’t been through the successes and failures.” The two teams are “in the way” and the Heat need to play like “they need to get them out of their way and go home with the win.”

This article first appeared on thePeachBasket and was syndicated with permission.

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