Miami Heat Must Eliminate Losses Against Team They Are Supposed To Defeat
The Miami Heat have played like champions in victories against the Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers.
They've then played like bums in losses to the Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs. The bad games against the NBA's bottom-feeders are what the Heat hope to eliminate soon as possible.
"Whether it be home or away, no matter what the opposing team's record is, no matter who we're playing, we've got to be us at the end of the day," Jimmy Butler said.
The worst part for the Heat is the losses often take place after they have built momentum. After a three-game losing streak was snapped against the Toronto Raptors in mid-November, they fell to the Wizards.
Three weeks later, they defeated the Celtics only to lose to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies have a winning record but played mostly without their starting lineup.
And then there's last week.
The Heat lost to the Spurs and Pistons, the worst teams in their respective conferences, in a span of five days.
"It's tough as a team who is used to taking care of business," guard Tyler Herro said. "Going into games, like tonight, games that we're supposed to win, especially at home, it hurts. It's not easy to win. You just gotta go through it. You can't go around, you've got to go through it ... No matter our opponent, we should be playing how we play ... I feel like we're playing to our opponents level."
The Heat get a chance to show they can win against the league's poor teams. After Monday's game against the Indiana Pacers, they play the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls and the Spurs.
The key is simple: establish dominance early.
"It's professional teams," guard Kyle Lowry said. "We're not going to just go out there and just blow them away. Once they get their confidence going and get rhythm, they just keep going. It's kind of hard to shut that water off once they get going."
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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.
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