Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Home hype helps Heat into 1st in East
MIAMI — When the song “Pepas” by Farruko starts blasting during the start of the fourth quarter at FTX Arena, the Miami crowd gets hyped up and the Heat players feed off its energy.
“Definitely the sixth man is our crowd; I will say that,” forward Bam Adebayo said. “It’s a different energy when we get in front of our fans, and around the fourth they play [“Pepas”]. That right there gets the crowd going. I like that. We need to keep that song.”
Whether it’s the crowd energy, being comfortable at home or another X-factor, the red-hot Heat (30-17) have rolled to a 16-5 home record this season, which has pushed them to first place in the hotly contested Eastern Conference.
The Chicago Bulls, Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers all were within 1 ½ games of the Heat entering Tuesday night’s games.
“Our guys understand how important it is to create some kind of home-court advantage,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And I think our guys have a genuine enthusiasm for playing in front of the fans. We were without that for most of last year. We’ve had some electric environments in that building, particularly in these fourth quarters of close games. Our guys thrive on that.”
Entering Wednesday’s home game against the rival New York Knicks, Miami’s .762 home winning percentage is the best in the East and third-best in the NBA, trailing only Western Conference leaders Phoenix and Golden State.
The Heat have done their job on the road, going 14-12. But it’s playing at home where Miami has excelled. They are 10-1 in their last 11 home games.
The packed crowds at FTX Arena have certainly helped. The Heat are third in the NBA in attendance with an average of 19,624 fans. The Heat are fourth by the percentage of their home arena filled.
‘We’ve got great fans,” Herro said. “Who wouldn’t like playing
in Miami?”
Miami’s winning ways at home come despite some stats being slightly better on the road. The Heat are averaging 105.5 points on the road vs. 102.3 points at home. Miami also averages 1.6 more rebounds on the road. But the Heat average 27 assists at home vs. 24.6 on the road, and they have one more steal per game at home.
Many players’ individual statistics reflect a slight advantage on the road (although forward Jimmy Butler averages more points, rebounds and assists at home), but the Heat continue to roll on their home court.
“I think it’s a combination of things: Fans and also just the pride that we have,” guard Duncan Robinson said. “It’s something we talk about a lot is protecting our home court. That’s definitely a part of it.”
Robinson added that having an arena full of fans after parts of two seasons had smaller crowds due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“Definitely playing in front of these fans helps,” Robinson said. “That’s something that we missed over the last year and a half. Obviously, last year, we were at not full capacity. It’s great to have FTX back, rocking and loud again, that’s for sure.”