LeBron James Expresses Concern over Cavaliers' Struggles vs. Heat
The Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Miami Heat, 122-101, on Saturday. It was the 11th straight time the Heat have beaten Cleveland in Miami, which wasn't lost on LeBron James.
"The way they've beat us here is a little concerning if we face them [in the playoffs]," James said after the rout, per ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst. "I think we'll be ready for it more. We didn't play with [our] potential. We didn't play our game. We let them play their game, and they took it to us."
The streak has been ongoing since 2010, the year James left his home-state Cavaliers and joined Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. The bulk of the streak was because of James, who won all seven home matchups against the Cavs during his four-year stint with the Heat.
Since James came back to Cleveland, the trips to Miami have not been pleasant. The Cavaliers have not only lost the last four times they've been in Miami, but each game has also been decided by double digits. Miami has outscored Cleveland by 60 combined points in that quartet of contests.
"With LeBron James coming back here, they get up for the game," Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue said, per Windhorst. "We need to start getting up for these games."
Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan put a lot of the blame on James himself:
If the season ended today, Cleveland would be the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, with the Heat sitting in fourth. That could potentially set up a second-round matchup, requiring the Cavs to go to Miami for Games 3 and 4. If the two were to meet in an Eastern Conference semifinals matchup, Miami could turn the tide of the series by stealing a game in Cleveland.
Cleveland has gone 9-6 in its last 15 games, and consistency has been a concern over the course of the season.
"You would like to play well from February into March," James said, per Windhorst. "Consistency is a part of life."
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