Miami Heat Won't Win an NBA Title with so Many Mental Lapses

Last night, the Miami Heat lost to the Milwaukee Bucks for the second time this season, once at home and once in Milwaukee.

No one with half an ounce of basketball understanding would argue that the Bucks are on the same level as the Heat, so that raises the question, why have the Heat dropped two games to them?

The answer is simple—focus.

The Heat are most concerned about what happens in the postseason, and that's not a problem. The way it can become a problem, though, is if it starts becoming a detriment to what happens in the regular season, and more importantly, what it may bring with them into the postseason. 

The Heat have dropped the two games to the Bucks. They lost to the Warriors. They have needed last-second shots to beat the Bobcats and the Timberwolves. They nearly lost to the Pistons. They are only 7-5 in their last 12 games.

The Heat are, in a word, inconsistent. They can look like world-beaters one night and then look average the next night. They can beat the NBA's best teams, and they can lose to the most mediocre of them. 

The reason is they get complacent, and these mental lapses lead to losses. The danger arises if this becomes a habit. Playing 48 minutes a night is not something you can start doing in the postseason—it's something you have to be in the habit of doing. 

Right now for the Heat, getting through the regular season has to be more than just chore. It has to be a process of improvement. They need to learn to play a game from start to finish, and they need to learn to play consistently from game to game. 

The Eastern Conference is going to be a difficult thing to navigate through the postseason. It's going to be even more difficult if the Heat aren't used to playing games from start to finish and playing every game.

If they aren't careful, this habit of taking large portions of games off, or even games off entirely, is going to come back to haunt them in the playoffs.