The Miami Heat have been cursed by inconsistent play late in games, and they’ll have to fix that to get where they want to go these NBA Playoffs.
A capacity crowd stood stunned in Toronto late Tuesday evening. The hometown Raptors were down six with just eight ticks left on the clock. All the visiting Miami Heat needed to do was inbound the ball and sink free throws.
Neither happened.
Luol Deng committed a mind-boggling inbounds turnover, Hassan Whiteside split free throws and Kyle Lowry was granted a prayer from the basketball gods as Toronto stormed back to force overtime.
The Heat would emerge victorious in overtime, but not without a little concern.
More from All U Can Heat
- Grade the Trade: Heat grab Trae Young in shocking proposal
- NBA 2K24 Ratings: Takeaways and reactions to Miami Heat player ratings
- 4 Teams that should trade for Tyler Herro
- Miami Heat’s Nikola Jovic gives entire world reason to love him
- 1 Advantage the Heat have over every Southeast Division team
Sure, Miami’s mental toughness in the overtime period was impressive as Goran Dragic (26 points) and Dwyane Wade (24 points, six rebounds, four assists) led the way for the Heat down the stretch, but quite frankly, they should’ve never found themselves in that spot in the first place.
This is a veteran ball club, with current and former league staples such as Wade, Chris Bosh, Dragic, Joe Johnson, Amar’e Stoudemire and Deng. A combined 73 seasons of experience couldn’t prevent one of the more improbable comebacks in recent memory. Maybe that’s why Wade was so heated in that overtime timeout, wildly shouting and pointing his finger to his temple in frustration.
Wade knows this isn’t the first time this Miami team has collapsed down the stretch this season. Remember that game in Boston to end the regular season? The Heat led by over 20 points in the first half and would go on to fall to the Celtics 98-88 in an epic meltdown. Granted, a late regular season loss is not catastrophic in the slightest, the Heat would go on to gain the three seed and secure home court advantage in the first round.
Then came the Hornets series. Miami came roaring out of the gates blazing in Games 1 and 2, scoring a combined 238 points while holding Charlotte to just 194 combined. Throw back performances from Deng in Game 1 (31 points on 11-13 shooting) and Wade in Game 2 (28 points, eight assists) had the Heat in complete control heading up to Charlotte with a 2-0 lead. Then the Hornets happened, and happened big time.
Charlotte would go on to hold the Heat under 90 points per game for the next three contests, and found themselves up 3-2 heading back home with a golden opportunity to close out.
Game 5 was a particularly head scratching defeat. Miami led the entire fourth quarter, until a failed box out led to a wide open Courtney Lee three pointer from the top of the arc. While all the talking heads, including this one, believed Wade was fouled by Lee on the next possession, a veteran team shouldn’t go brain dead fundamentally in a pivotal Game 5, should it?
To their credit, the Heat would go on to show tremendous mental toughness by winning Game 6 on the road and dismantling the Hornets in Game 7 to advance to the second round. After another vintage closing performance from Wade, Miami now finds itself up 1-0 against a Toronto team that opened up the series with home court advantage.
I certainly don’t expect Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozen to combine for a measly 29 points on 12 of 38 shooting again. Their playoff track record suggests it could happen anytime, both own two of the lowest career playoff shooting percentages in NBA history. In fact, although the first round monkey has been lifted, one could argue these Raptors are less trustworthy than Miami can be at times. Losing a Game 1 at home may be even more demoralizing than watching a half court heave go through the net.
Either way, there’s no beating a LeBron James-led team in the playoffs with mental errors and lapses in judgment. While we still have an entire series of basketball left before a potential Heat-Cavs showdown, that’s what the whole world wants and expects to see. Wade. James. A trip to the NBA Finals on the line. My, the headlines and press.
The Cavaliers are far too talented to give anything to, especially second life at home, where LeBron and company are very formidable. You won’t bet on Kyrie Irving to shoot three for 13 at The Q, you can’t guarantee Kevin Love or J.R. Smith won’t get going from the perimeter, and you damn sure can’t bet against the King.
Next: Heat, Wade overcome half-court miracle to take Game 1
The bottom line is clear: for Miami to get where they want and think they should be, they must learn to close games consistently. To their credit, they do seem to be turning a corner, but only time will tell.