The Miami Heat lost once again this weekend, falling 106-95 to the Mavericks at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Saturday night. If you didn't tune in, you didn't really miss much. It was a rerun of a show you've seen many times before.
We're now a month in to the grand experiment of the new big three in South Beach, and the results haven't exactly been dazzling. Saturday's Dallas debacle was loss No. 8 on the season for Erik Spoelstra's superstar-laden squad — meaning that in order to eclipse the Bulls' record of 72 wins in their inaugural season, the new-look Heat would have to go 64-1 the rest of the way. Probably not happening.
This latest Heat loss only reaffirms something that we'd already suspected: They can't beat good teams. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are three of the biggest celebrities in the basketball world, and that counts for something, but the brute force of their star power is only enough to beat the league's doormats. Slaying NBA giants takes fundamental team basketball.
So far this season, the Heat have played the following teams that currently hold losing records: Philadelphia (twice), New Jersey (twice), Minnesota, Toronto, Phoenix, Charlotte and Memphis.
Against that group, the Heat are 8-1.
They've played the following teams that at .500 or better: Boston (twice), Orlando (twice), New Orleans, Utah, Indiana and now Dallas.
Against the winners, they're 1-7. The one win came nearly a month ago, a home victory over the Magic on Oct. 29.
This is startling stuff. Every team has a bad record against winning teams, sure — that's what makes them winners. But with Miami, the difference is a stark one, and it indicates a real problem. Everyone thought it would be easy for the league's newest superteam, but in the games that really matter, it's been extremely difficult.
Those winning teams listed above have a lot of things in common — they're smart, they're disciplined, they're well-coached and they're committed to playing defense. In other words, they're way too well prepared to be beaten by any one superstar — or even three.
Bad teams have weaknesses. There's one tempo or one style they're not prepared for, or there's one guy on the floor who can't defend worth a lick. The Heat's stars are well equipped to find that one weak link and attack it.
But when the Heat can't find that weak link, they're left without a plan. LeBron can't just put his head down and plow to the basket. Wade can't just wreak havoc and get to the line at will. Bosh can't … well, do much of anything, really.
Their offense is too conventional, too predictable, too lacking in the nuance it sorely needs.
That said, the Heat have a lot of time to figure everything out. They signed their stars to six-year contracts for a reason — no one season is life or death, not to mention one month. Pat Riley has the big picture in mind.
You'll hear a lot of myths about the Heat this season. You'll hear that Spoelstra isn't cutting it as a head coach, and Pat Riley needs to rush down to the bench ASAP to stop the bleeding — wrong. Spoelstra's as bright as they come, and he'll teach his guys to play together in due time. Riley grabbing the reins tomorrow morning wouldn't do a thing.
You'll hear that Bosh is on the trading block this winter — wrong. You don't shell out $109,837,500 for a guy just to cut him loose after a bad month. Don't be silly.
You'll hear that the Heat's experiment has failed, that they'll never win a thing, that a weak November taught us all we needed to know. That's wrong too.
So far, the Heat have had their problems, and naturally, those problems have been well publicized. But as LeBron said after loss No. 1 in Boston back in October, Rome wasn't built in a day.
It wasn't built in a month, either. The Heat need time to build their empire.
