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The Good, Bad and Miami Heat Culture: Effort is not the problem

By Lauren Gewirtz

MIAMI, FL - OCTOBER 20: Goran Dragic #7 of the Miami Heat handles the ball against the Charlotte Hornets on October 20, 2018 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - OCTOBER 20: Goran Dragic #7 of the Miami Heat handles the ball against the Charlotte Hornets on October 20, 2018 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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MIAMI, FL – OCTOBER 20: Goran Dragic #7 of the Miami Heat handles the ball against the Charlotte Hornets on October 20, 2018 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL – OCTOBER 20: Goran Dragic #7 of the Miami Heat handles the ball against the Charlotte Hornets on October 20, 2018 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The Good, Bad and Miami Heat Culture is a weekly column focusing on the recent performance of the team.

The Good

It’s always a little more fun to start out with the good news, so here it is: despite being 1-2, the Miami Heat have shown resilience and effort in each of their games.

Opening night on the road against the Orlando Magic, the Heat had a chance to win the game being down one with less than five seconds to play. Josh Richardson stepped out of bounds on a baseline drive to the basket and marked the Heat’s 17th turnover.

In the Heat’s first and only win of the season so far, against the Washington Wizards, it was Kelly Olynyk who, after a missed jumper by Dwyane Wade, got the offensive rebound and putback to give the Heat a one point lead, with 0.2 seconds remaining.

Saturday in the Heat’s home opener, the Charlotte Hornets had a 26 point lead on the Heat, with just over six minutes left in the third quarter. The Heat rallied back, led by Goran Dragic, and lost by one, after Kemba Walker was fouled and made a free throw with 0.5 seconds left.

Included heavily in the efforts is rebounding.

The team is averaging 52 rebounds a game — good enough for No. 1 in the league. And, included in that total, is a league-high 16 offensive rebounds. Granted, it is very early in the season, but if the Heat can maintain numbers close to those, they have a shot at winning some of those close games.

Bottom line: the opportunities to win are there.

The team just has to stop making so many small mistakes early in the game, that end up costing them later when they are doing things right.

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