The Heat continue to win—14 straight at home, in fact—but lately, it has been far from pretty.
Leading up to the NBA All-Star Game, Miami was exuding a level of dominance that many didn’t even know their big three led squad was capable of. Double-digit margins of victory became the norm, and the team looked damn near unbeatable.
Fast forward a couple of weeks though, and the Heat look like a completely different team, but not for the better.
In Miami’s latest victory, they fell behind to an inferior Suns team by as many as 10 in the fourth quarter, before embarking on what was an unnecessary rally to claim the victory. Barely.
LeBron James continues to put up MVP caliber stat lines, but Dwyane Wade has found points hard to come by. The Heat, as a whole, are leaving guys wide-open on the perimeter, and getting burned as a result. And the effort that is being put forth on the court—by some, not all—reeks of a “I have better things to do” mindset.
That’s unacceptable, yet it gets overshadowed by the fact they are continuing to win, and have the second best record in the NBA. Make no mistake, though, that this type of lackadaisical, hit-a-wall basketball is not going to win a championship.
Losses to the Bulls will not be chastised, but when they come against a Derrick Rose-less Chicago team, it’s cause for concern. The Bulls and Heat appear to be on a collision course for a re-match in the Eastern Conference Finals, and Miami cannot take this lightly.
The ultimate goal in South Beach is to take home a championship, and while the Heat remain a title contender, they suddenly look like a team that can be exploited. And not only will that not get them a championship, it won’t even bring them out of the East.
The road ahead isn’t going to get any easier, but the Heat have already proven they can take stretch of tough games and make wins seem effortless. They just need to regain that killer instinct, rekindle that heartfelt interest and re-attach their heads to their bodies.
Should LeBron and company continue their run of complacency and borderline listlessness though, they’ll find themselves headed for an early postseason exit.
Dan Favale is an avid basketball analyst and firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His work can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
