Miami Heat: Why It's Not Time for LeBron James, Dwyane Wade To Panic

Recently, the Miami Heat have fallen on hard times, losing their past five games to the Portland Trail Blazers, Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs, Orlando Magic and New York Knicks, and everybody is talking like the end is near for this Heat team.

Thrice in those four games they blew double-digit leads, the biggest of which against the Magic, who they had a 24-point lead on in the third quarter.

Common sense would tell you that this is not a good thing. You have to be able to beat the best teams in the league to win a championship...right?

Well, during the playoffs that very well may be true, but in the regular season, it doesn't matter nearly as much.

Now, many people will say that it will build up their confidence for the playoffs, and with guys crying in the locker room after their loss to the Bulls, they could use all the confidence they can get.

Well, I say phooey, and I have been accused of being a "Heat Hater" on more than one occasion.

Let's take a look back for a second at the past couple of years and examine the correlation between records against winning teams and postseason outcome, shall we?

In the past eight years, the two teams to make it to the NBA Finals have won an average of four games and lost an average of five against the top four teams in the NBA.

They're not exactly dominating the top tier teams in the league now, are they.

In fact, the NBA Champions have the same record, 4-5, against the top four teams in the regular season.

Currently, the Miami Heat are 1-6 against the top four teams in the NBA (not the 0-9 number that everybody seems to be throwing around) and have been a lightning rod for criticism throughout the season.

The interesting thing is, the last time the Heat won the NBA Championship when they beat Dallas in five games in 2006, they had an even worse record against the top four teams in the NBA, at 1-9.

Sure, beating the best team in the league would probably be a godsend at this point, as it would get the media off their backs and allow them room to breathe in the months leading up to the playoffs, but it isn't a death sentence.

The point here isn't to diminish any wins over the best teams in the league, because that is an accomplishment, but it is to say that this will only become a problem if the Heat make it a problem.

Losing in the regular season is like eating a bad jelly bean. There are still plenty of jelly beans in the box in front of you to choose from, so it's not the end of the world unless you make a big stink out of it.

Also, everyone decided to jump on LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and their late-game struggles, going, combined with Chris Bosh, 1-16 from the field in the final 10 seconds of games when attempting to take the lead or tie the game.

An ugly stat, but history and common sense says that if LeBron and Wade get enough reps in that position, their numbers will regress to their normal level, which is usually much higher.

LeBron has statistically been one of the best clutch players in the NBA in the past few years, shooting nearly 50 percent for the past five years with less than five minutes left in a five-point game.

Wade hasn't been as good, but has showed greatness, shooting 47 percent in the clutch two years ago.

So, realistically, there isn't much to worry about as long as these struggles stay in the regular season. However, if they are sitting here two years from now with the same problems, then there are serious problems.

The biggest thing the Heat need to do now is to concentrate on their pressure situation offense and work on finding a new coach (Seriously, Spo has got to go).

The regular season is too long and too meaningless to get caught up in individual wins and losses, the best thing to do is trod on and move on to the next game.