Miami Heat: Opening Night Loss to Boston Celtics Isn't the End of the World
The sky may feel like it's falling for Miami Heat fans after seeing their uber-hyped team score a grand total of 30 points in the first half of an opening night loss to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.
Fact is, most of us (including myself) got so lost in the Heat's hype that we forgot one key thing: there's a difference between talent and a team.
The Heat are an amalgamation of talent—granted, one with three of the 15 most talented players in the league—but nothing more, at this point.
Teams build their identity through practice and game reps. Given the injuries the Heat battled through this preseason, they're just happy to have their full roster at their disposal again.
The Celtics, on the other hand, are a team. Their core of Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett have played together through three full seasons at this point.
With that in mind, here's why Heat fans shouldn't be jumping off the bandwagon just yet.
Cohesion Takes Time
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When Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen came to join Paul Pierce in Boston in the summer of 2007, they joined Pierce for five-day workouts in September before training camp to build up as much on-court chemistry as possible in such a short period of time.
They started out the regular season 29-3, and ultimately stormed their way to an NBA championship that year.
This year, the Miami Heat's Big Three played together in the preseason for three minutes and 17 seconds of game time before Dwyane Wade hurt his hamstring. He sat out the rest of the preseason.
With LeBron James, Mario Chalmers and Eddie House also hobbled by preseason injuries, Erik Spoelstra still has no clue which lineups can actually succeed together.
On-court chemistry doesn't come overnight, no matter how many All-Stars you can throw out at your opponents. The Miami Heat learned that lesson the hard way tonight.
Boston's Defense…Wow
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As ESPN analyst and NBA trainer David Thorpe said tonight:
"Starting out in Game 1 vs Celts D is like a Broadway opening night in front of blind people who don't speak english. Just not a fair gauge."
He's got a point. Ever since adding Kevin Garnett, one of the most psychotically intense basketball players in NBA history, the Celtics have hung their hat on defense and made teams grind out every possession.
Even though former defensive coordinator Tom Thibodeau took his talents to Chicago to become the head coach of the Bulls this summer, the C's still have the same defensive players. And they proved it tonight, sending a reminder to the rest of the NBA that defense, above all, wins championships.
And, oh yeah. They added those O'Neal fellas this summer, too.
Big Man Clinic
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Raise your hand if you expected Shaquille O'Neal to put up an efficient 9 PTS, 7 REB, 1 BLK in 18 minutes against the Heat. Now raise your hand if you expected Shaq to be the most dominant big man in Tuesday's Heat-Celtics matchup.
Right...so, that's no one?
Shaq straight-up abused Chris Bosh and the army of low-caliber centers the Heat could throw at him while he was on the court. If only he could knock down those free throws (3-of-8 on the night)…
The 38-year-old Shaq's sudden revival had to be a wake-up call to the Heat's frontcourt—as if the constant media speculation about their lack of an imposing frontcourt wasn't enough.
While it's only Game 1, the Heat will eventually need much more production from their post players if they expect to compete for a title this season.
Beware the Rondo
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Rajon Rondo, the Celtics' All-Star point guard, notched 17 assists on the night (one short of his career-high).
The Heat, as a team, recorded 15 assists.
There's no questioning Rondo's legitimacy as one of the NBA's top PGs at this point. His ability to change gears on a dime gives him the ability to run the Celtics' offense like a well-oiled machine.
On the other side…the Heat don't exactly have that point guard thing figured out yet. Against the Celtics, LeBron ended up walking the ball up the court for most of the Heat's possessions, but who knows how much of that was due to Wade's off-night?
Fact is, on this night, the Heat couldn't stop Rondo defensively. When Rondo's dishing 17 assists in a single game, chances are the Celtics' offense is humming so well that your team doesn't stand a chance.
Wade Will Rebound
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If there's one thing Heat fans can count on, it's that Dwyane Wade won't quickly forget this inauspicious debut of his.
While Wade's been a member of the Heat for years—in fact, he's one of the only carryovers from last year's Heat—it's not a stretch to say adding LeBron and Bosh to the Heat this summer has opened a new chapter in his career.
And in the debut of this new chapter, Wade shot 4-of-16 for 13 points in 37 minutes. That's a tragic beginning, to say the least.
If you watched the game, though, you could clearly see Wade still affected by the hamstring injury that held him out in the preseason. He may have been operating at 70-80 percent, and that won't cut it against the Celtics' brutal defense.
One flashback to Wade's 46-point explosion against the Celtics in last year's playoffs should remind you that the Wade we saw tonight won't be here for long. Once that hammy heals up, D-Wade should be chugging right along in the Heat's offense.
Redemption Can Come Soon…Well, Actually, Tomorrow
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Luckily for the Heat, they won't have long to sulk about their loss to the Celtics tonight. They're due in Philadelphia for the Sixers' opening game tomorrow night.
Compared to the Celtics' defense, the Sixers' defense should look like a JV high school team to the Heat players. The Sixers ranked dead last in three-point defense last season, and haven't been much better so far this year.
Coach Doug Collins and the Sixers largely limped through the preseason, and at this point, there looks to be plenty more questions than answers floating around the team.
When you're a team in need of a rebound victory after a tough loss, nothing beats drawing a 27-win team that made few (if any) tangible improvements over the summer.
Something tells me that in 24 hours, the Heat will be 1-1 and Miami can rest easy tomorrow night. That is, until they welcome the Magic in their home opener on Friday...
