Miami Heat: Sky Is Not Falling After Heartbreaking Loss to Bulls
The Miami Heat lost a basketball game they should have won on Thursday night. Worse, they got beat by a Chicago Bulls team that got exactly two points from reigning MVP Derrick Rose.
Quick, everybody panic.
Most everyone already has. The Heat and overreaction go hand in hand, and nobody plays nice when the Heat blow a win in the fourth quarter. Fans and the media may ease up on them someday, but not until the Heat stop blowing fourth quarter leads so damned often.
The reality of the situation is quite dire. The Heat are wildly mediocre on the road, and they're playing bad basketball at a time when they should be playing their best basketball. For the first time all season, the going has gotten really tough for the Heat, and they've wilted.
And now for the truth:
Despite the fact many people already are, this is not a time for anyone to panic. Everyone in and around the greater Miami area should take a few steps back from the ledge, followed by a few deep breaths.
You know why? Because the Heat are still a really, really good basketball team.
The Heat aren't perfect, of course, as we found out once again on Thursday night that they have depth issues and that their collective star power does not make them exempt from occasional communication issues. However, these are issues the Heat had last season, and they still managed to go to the NBA Finals.
The general perception is that the problems that plagued last year's team are even worse this year. For that matter, the team itself is worse this year than it was last year. Given the talent they have, that's alarming.
Not really. Every team is entitled to a few struggles during the regular season. The Heat went through theirs at the beginning of last season, and they're going through their struggles at the end of this season. Same stuff, but the script has been flipped.
And at the end of the day, all we're talking about is the regular season. It's nothing sacred.
The postseason is where it's at for the Heat. All they have to do is get some mojo going in the first round, and then they'll be on their way.
The Heat should have no trouble in that regard. If the season ended today, they'd be matched up against the Philadelphia 76ers. They're a good team, but the Heat are a perfect 4-0 against them this season. A series against the 76ers would be a shot at a nice, clean sweep, which would serve as a springboard for further postseason success.
Things will only get more difficult for the Heat after the first round, to be sure. But once again, that was the case last season, and the Heat rode the Big Three all the way to the Finals and left the haters mere scraps to work with along the way.
The Heat can get to the Finals again, make no mistake about that. The Boston Celtics are tough, but the Heat showed last season that they can use their athleticism to beat them. The Bulls will be tough too, but the truth is that the Heat are going to win nine games out of 10 in which they hold Rose to a pair of points and 1-for-13 shooting. The Bench Mob can beat LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in a single game, but not in a series.
So don't listen to Stephen A. Smith and all the other blowhards who like to preach doom and gloom every time the Heat go boom. There will be a time to criticize and mock the Heat, but it's not now.
It will be time if and when they fail once again to win the first of not five, not six, not seven...
For the record, I'm not a Heat fan. It's safe to follow me on Twitter. We can talk about toast.
