Miami Heat Are Not Hot Against NBA Top 5: Lose to Chicago Bulls Again

When LeBron James decided to take his talents to South Beach, the Miami Heat were supposed to cut through the NBA like the proverbial "hot knife through butter."

They were supposed to dominate everyone—the haves and the have-nots.

So far this season, the Heat have played good enough to have the third best record overall (42-16, behind San Antonio and Boston) and to be in second place in the Eastern Conference behind the Celtics.

Last night's loss to the Chicago Bulls is one more example of how Miami is struggling against the best teams in the league.

The Heat have not played the Spurs yet this season. They battle for the first time in San Antonio on Friday, March 4.

Against Boston, Dallas and Chicago (the teams with the second, fourth and fifth best records in the league respectively), Miami is currently 0-7.

For comparison, the Bulls are 6-3 against the Spurs, Celtics, Heat and Mavericks.

Yes, the picture looks a little brighter for Miami if you add in the fact that they have beaten the Lakers in their only meeting and that they have taken down the Orlando Magic in two out of three games so far this season.

The fact remains that the Heat are not dominating the league as predicted by many.

Miami will not break the NBA record for consecutive wins—the 1971-72 Lakers' 33 in a row is safe.

The Heat aren't going to shove the 1995-96 Bulls' record aside (overall record of 72-10).

At their current pace, the Heat won't even break their own franchise record (61 wins by the 1996-97 team).