There’s no running around it, as the Miami Heat have walked through an alley of trouble after suffering four straight losses to Philadelphia, Golden State, New York, and Brooklyn Saturday night.
To make matters worse, they are now number two in the Eastern Conference behind the Boston Celtics by way of tiebreakers—who they are set to face on this Wednesday in Boston.
A combined 33 total All-Star appearances were absent during the Heat’s last four losses, as that list included Joel Embiid, James Harden, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Julius Randle.
Despite holding the advantage on paper, Miami continued to be outperformed and even outclassed by teams who were without their first, second, or even third option, other than Brooklyn, of course.
To encapsulate it all, a lackluster defensive effort didn’t help the Heat’s chances. For a team that was starting to gain some positive media attention in recent weeks, Miami’s outlook of being in title contention has now become a fallacy to many.
The continuation of late-game meltdowns, a revolving door of injuries, and finding difficulty in properly integrating guys or certain lineups have vacuumed them into one of their worst four-game stretches in recent memory.
Now, before the rest of their schedule stands a team that is accused to be a shadow of themselves.