Miami Heat: 5 Lessons We Learned from the Heat's Ugly Win over the Cavaliers

Aside from the play of the funkiest member of the Miami Floridians, Chris Bosh, the Heat's win over the Cleveland Cavaliers was a pretty ugly performance.

The Heat made the Cavaliers look a lot better than they actually are by failing to capitalize off 20 turnovers and managing to shoot just 27.8 percent from beyond the arc.

This is the second game in a row that the Heat have looked unmotivated and apathetic.  Luckily for the Heat, this lazy performance ended with a win, thanks to the offensive explosion of Chris Bosh, which can't be said about the dud they dropped against the Bucks on Sunday night.

So what can we take away from the Heat's ugly win over the Cavaliers?  Read on and you'll find five valuable lessons we learned about the Heat that will impact the rest of their 2011-12 season.  

Chris Bosh Is the Real Deal

Time and time again this season, Chris Bosh has hit big-time shots and performed in the clutch from the free-throw line when the Heat have needed him to.

In the past five games, Bosh has averaged 26.6 ppg and 7.2 rpg, shooting an incredibly impressive 59.8 percent from the field.  There's no doubting the fact that Chris Bosh is one of the main reasons why the Heat have been able to win games without Wade in the lineup and he's slowly but surely establishing himself on the same level as the other members of the big three in Miami.

Chris Bosh has gotten a lot of heat for being a "soft" player over the past few years, but that's not the way he's been playing so far in the 2011-12 season.  Bosh is continually taking charges on the defensive side of the ball and taking the ball strong to basket offensively.

If Bosh can continue to produce at the same level he is now, when Wade returns to the starting lineup, there aren't going to be a lot of teams that will be able to compete with the Miami Heat.

Erik Spoelstra Still Doesn't Seem to Know What He's Doing

Seriously Spoelstra, how did you get the head coaching gig with the Miami Heat?

Erik Spoelstra may have done a solid job with the Heat before the big three was created in South Beach, but it sure seems like he doesn't know how to run an offense that integrates the talents of his star players.  Mark my words.  If Erik Spoelstra continues to rely on the isolation offense throughout the rest of the year, the Miami Heat will struggle to win games against the elite of the NBA, like the Bulls, Thunder and Magic.

There's no way that the Cavaliers should have been in the game as long as they were against the Heat.  Sure, when you take out Chris Bosh's stellar field goal percentage, the Heat only shot 40.7 percent from the field, but a majority of their struggles on the offensive side of the ball stemmed from the fact that they looked like they were playing in a pick up game.  The Heat continued to run isolations for LeBron, Bosh and even Chalmers, and while they worked at times, they won't continue to work against better teams.

When the Heat struggle, like they did at times tonight, it's because they lack any sense of half-court offense and that falls back on the game-planning ability of the head coach.  Spoelstra doesn't need to draw up complex offenses, but he needs to establish some type of pick-and-roll or high-low offense, rather than relying on the one-on-one talents of his star players.

The Heat need to iron out the kinks in their offense now, rather than trying to figure it out down the stretch of the regular season or during the playoffs.

Spoelstra, spend an hour or two in Pat Riley's office, I'm sure he'll have some solid offensive ideas for you.  

Kyrie Irving Isn't Bad, but He Won't Ever Be LeBron James

Watching Kyrie Irving on Tuesday night was an impressive sight to see.  He played at an incredibly efficient rate, scoring 17 points on 63.6 percent shooting from the field in only 26 minutes against the Heat.  There's no doubt that Irving is an impressive talent and he put that on display Tuesday night in South Beach, but Irving won't be the next LeBron James in Cleveland.

I'm not sure that many realistically thought Irving had the potential to be the same kind of player as LeBron James, as they are completely different players, but Irving showed a lot of people against the Heat that he is going to be a legitimate talent in the NBA.

The Cavaliers proved to be an undisciplined, young and unpolished team, turning the ball over 20 times and committing nearly double digit offensive fouls, but Irving still managed to keep the Cavaliers in the game.

It might be a little too early to know what kind of player Irving is going to be, but I highly doubt he'll ever become the kind of player that can average 25+ ppg, 7+ rpg and 7+ apg for an entire season.  One thing is certain, though, and that is that Irving is a solid building block for the Cavaliers future, but he undoubtedly won't help the Cavalier fans forget that guy named LeBron.

The Heat's Bench Experience Will Be Key Down the Stretch of the Season

In addition to the ridiculous play of Chris Bosh Tuesday night, the Heat's bench continued to produce at an efficient and consistent level for the Heat, which is something that they are going to rely on down the stretch of the regular season and into the Eastern Conference playoffs.

While the Heat played pretty ugly in their last two games, there is one big lesson to learn from both of them.  In the Floridians loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday night, the Heat's bench accounted for a whopping 11 total points.  In the Heat's win over the Cavaliers Tuesday night, the Heat's bench accounted for 25 points, which in addition to Bosh's dominance, proved to be the real difference maker against the Cavs.

Having Wade on the bench isn't necessarily a best case scenario for the Heat, but the one thing it has allowed the Heat to do is give their bench players more time on the court.  The fact that the Heat's bench is able to see more time with Wade on the bench, will only benefit them, gaining valuable experience moving into the heart of the 2011-12 regular season.

The more time players like James Jones, Norris Cole and Mike Miller see the court, the more prepared they will be when their numbers are called down the stretch of the regular season—and even into the playoffs.  

The Heat Are in Cruise Control Until Jan. 29 Against the Bulls

Ever since whooping up on the Lakers and then dominating 76ers in the debut of the their epic throwback Floridian jerseys, the Miami Heat have clearly put cruise control on.  In their past two games, the Heat have averaged 87.0 ppg, which is a steep decline from their season average of 105.4 ppg.

Just to put the Heat's lazy performances into perspective, they scored 82 points against the Bucks, who give up an average of 94.6 ppg, and the Heat dropped 92 points against a Cavaliers team that gives up an average of 99.0 ppg.  Sure, the Heat are playing less than stellar talent, but there's no doubting the far that the Heat aren't playing with the same energy they have throughout the first 15 games of the season.

The Heat take a road trip to Detroit for a matchup with an abysmal Pistons team Wednesday night, followed by a return to South Beach on Friday for a game against the struggling New York Knicks.

While the Heat could probably sit Bosh and LeBron and still beat the Pistons, if the Heat don't amp up their energy and production against the Knicks they could easily lose, which would be a rough way to head into their Sunday afternoon matchup with the leaders of the east, the Chicago Bulls.

The Heatles look like they're comfortably in cruise control, awaiting their Eastern Conference clash with the Bulls, but if the Heat want to truly be the best team in the NBA, they have to stop coasting against the weaker competition in the NBA.

If they do continue to coast in the regular season, they'll continue to lose games that they shouldn't, which will result in a lower seeding in the playoffs, which means losing valuable home-court advantage.

Alright Heatles, it's time to pick it up.  Play every game like it means something, because come playoff time, all those losses to lower caliber teams will actually mean something, a lot of traveling rather than staying in South Beach.