LeBron James and the Heat Fall Hard in Game One: Why It's Far From Panic Time

Danny DolphinOct 26, 2010

LeBron James and the Heat struggled mightily in their regular season opener.

Dwyane Wade. LeBron James. Chris Bosh. Everyone was expecting fireworks out of the gate. How could they not with that collection of elite players?

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Miami was supposed to rip through the defending East Champion Celtics as if they were tissue paper.

Well the game did not go according to every Heat fan’s plan Tuesday night. LeBron James struggled with turnovers (8). Dwyane Wade struggled shooting (4-for-16). Chris Bosh I forgot was on the court half the time.

“Miami Thrice,” “The Big Three,” “The Three Amigos,” or whatever you want to call them, didn’t play very well individually and certainly did not excel as a team as the Boston Celtics handed them an 88-80 loss to open up the season.

Ray Allen sliced through Miami’s defense, connecting on 5-0f-8 three pointers. The Heat stunk tonight.

And that’s okay.

Tonight, these star NBA players proved one thing. They are human.

As cool as they are off the court and as calm as they looked during every press conference, the pressure effected them in their first real game action, at least in the first half.

They played nervous, twitchy and far from their typical norms at the game’s onset. In a game that had a playoff atmosphere from start to finish, they ultimately sank.

Wade, Bosh and James combined for 15 turnovers and 17-for-48 shooting from the field.

If anything take this positive from it. As bad as they played, they still had a chance to win it with a few minutes left. They didn’t give up and fought hard.

Things are just going to take a little longer than we thought for the team to jell. Also consider they are without a critical rotation player in Mike Miller, who would have helped big time tonight.

James Jones and Eddie House weren’t as effective as they needed to be from the perimeter. They need to capitalize off of all the open looks they will get.

So what if Kevin Garnett, one of the league’s dirtier players, held Bosh like a straitjacket for much of the game. Obviously that wouldn’t have flown in Miami. But it is what it is.

Fear not, Heat fans, this is simply a speed bump in the long road of the NBA season. They still have a bunch to work out.

At least they have 81 more games to sort through it. On the large scale, this loss means absolutely nothing. Although the bragging rights would have been nice.

If you’re going to take one thing from this game, take this. As horrendous as they played, they still were in position to get a win with a few minutes left against the Eastern Conference Champions on their home court. Boston is a team that has played together for years.

Hang in there. We have Philly tomorrow.