Miami Heat's Latest Collapse Leaves Team on the Brink of a Merciful End

MIAMI—There was a time, a time that now seems like eons ago, when the song sounded menacing, more than merely a warning to visitors to take cover from the storm, but a taunt that no one would be safe anywhere 'til it stopped. But not anymore. Not this season. Not after LeBron James left and then so much else, from games to faith to bodies, was lost.

Now that pulsating bass riff—the Dun dun dun dun da dun dun of "Seven Nation Army" intended to energize the crowd—sounds meek and misplaced. And on nights like Thursday, when the storm swept away the home side, it tends to make a mockery of the reality.

And the reality was that, by the time Jack White's shrieking began reverberating through AmericanAirlines Arena, "Taps" would have served as a more appropriate musical selection, for a game and, by extension, a season that could no longer be salvaged. The Bulls, by rallying from a 19-point halftime deficit to beat the Heat, 89-78, ended any remaining illusion that Miami could make something meaningful of this season, by somehow, even in a weakened state, capitalizing on even weaker East competition to reach the playoffs.

This wasn't the first time that the Heat squandered a sizable lead—as the 76ers, Bucks and Pistons, among others can attest—but it was the one in which the backbone of the team finally broke, with four veterans (Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng, Mario Chalmers, Udonis Haslem) combining to shoot 3-for-27 in the second half, with six points, six rebounds and three assists in 56 minutes.

"You press a little bit," said Wade, who has often soared while carrying an unexpected, outsized burden this season, but crashed hard (4-for-20) Thursday. "A lot of us pressed, I think, in the second half. Once they started making their run, the offense just stalled. It was our fault as players. We have to continue to move the ball. We didn't do it. We took contested shots. I took a lot of them. We just pressed a little bit. You feel it kind of slipping away. Everybody wants to self-will it, and it's not always the best medicine." 

And, after that sickly second-half performance—outscored 57-27 by a squad that had been struggling to find its own stride—the mathematics no longer matter, even with a slim chance of still sneaking in, should they win three straight (against the Raptors, Magic and 76ers) and get more help than at an airport information booth.

"We're all frustrated," Erik Spoelstra said. "We're all embarrassed when you're in those situations and you can't stop an avalanche like that, but the only answer is within the locker room and we haven't figured out how to hold the fort when it goes like that."

They're not going to figure it out now, not this late in the game, not with their spirits sunk.

And so, even those of us who have touted the benefits of a postseason appearance—from getting Hassan Whiteside to experience that physicality and intensity to giving Goran Dragic his first shot as a postseason starter—can no longer ignore that the most merciful outcome was the season's imminent conclusion. Perhaps even Pat Riley sees that now, though he has stubbornly, if understandably, wanted to see his team reach the tournament, as evidence that they can handle a James jilting better than the Cavaliers did; as reward for all the lineup shuffling Spoelstra's done; as a preferable alternative to trying to preserve a protected lottery pick by finishing as one of the 10 worst teams and praying you aren't as unlucky with ping-pong balls as you've been with everything else during the season.

It has been a noble, if exhausting, effort.

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And it appears, a fruitless one. 

This team can't take anymore. Nor should it be expected to. 

Fight off a Seven Nation Army? They can't even lick their wounds without slicing their tongues. 

James' departure started it. 

Then Josh McRoberts' injuries, the last of which ended his season, after the projected starting lineup played just 34 minutes together. 

And Chris Bosh's blood clots, diagnosed within an hour of Dragic's acquisition.

And Whiteside's lacerated hand, after he'd been the pleasant surprise of the NBA season. 

And all the other injuries and ailments, with Wade sidelined for three lengthy periods, not due to his knees, but his hamstrings. And all the collapses, every time they seemed to find their footing. 

At least, this time, no Heat player told Whiteside to step out of bounds with the ball, or lost a jump ball to a player seven inches shorter. 

The shift was swifter. But painful, just the same. 

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"You keep coming back... until you can't," Wade said, after Thursday's latest setback. "Until they tell you your season's over, man. This team has been through a lot. So, a loss, a bad 24 minutes, two, three, four in a row lost, that's not going to deter us from coming back and doing our job." 

Perhaps not, and perhaps they can still pull out a victory Saturday against Toronto, but the odds are stacked against them, even more than they've been all season, a season in which they've been dealt a jack, queen, king or 10 every time they've already held a dozen. And, should the seas part, allowing them to stagger over to the playoff shore, it's hard to see how they summon the energy and enthusiasm to make much of a matchup with the Hawks or Cavaliers. Forget the fantasy of beating James, who will come in healthy, with a strong supporting cast, and with a 16-2 record in the past four first rounds. 

A single season-ending, three-game winning streak wouldn't get the Heat sufficiently geared up for that challenge. Not when they are already dealing with the doubts in their heads, those fatalistic feelings that circumstances wouldn't allow to subside. 

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Luol Deng has been through all sorts of adversity in his life and career, from fleeing the Sudan as a child to suffering life-threatening medical complications as a professional. But he has made no secret of how much this season has tested him, frustrated him.   

"It's just tough, man," Deng said. "It's just been that type of year. It seemed like the whole year, we were always fighting and dealing with something, instead of staying consistent and just kind of playing our game. I'm not making excuses or anything, but no one on this team can tell you that they've had a consistent rhythm the entire year. It's been tough to be consistent. We've had guys in and out. You have different roles. The last two games, I played the four a lot more, sometimes I'm playing the three, sometimes you don't have guys that you're normally used to playing with. I've been in the league 11 years, and it's really, in that aspect, in terms of guys in and out and injuries, it's been a very different year." 

So, has he thought much about what next season could be, if he opts in or re-signs long term, if Dragic does the same, if Bosh returns healthy, if Whiteside improves, if Wade still has the same fire and efficiency he's had on most nights that he dressed this season?

"It always sounds good on paper, and obviously if we all come back next year, it will be a great team," Deng said. "But at the same time, injuries and situations don't pick years and 'If I got you twice, I'm not going to get you again.' So you've just to keep doing what you're doing. Everybody's got to keep working on their game in the summer and come with a positive mindset, no matter what. And then, from there, you see what you can do, and you go day in and day out."

But this season, with its days, at last and probably for best, now numbered?

To paraphrase the wise but now-weary words of the White Stripes: It has a story to tell. It's just not one that anyone around the Heat will ever again care to hear.