The fact that the Miami Heat are just 7-14 against teams with a winning record so far this season does suggest that they're currently living off fool's gold. And that their 20-16 start to the season could very much be a little fraudulent.
To put that number into perspective, the Heat are only winning 33 percent of games against teams with a record over .500, and they have a lower win percentage in those games than the Chicago Bulls, who are sitting in the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference.
That's not good.
And if the Heat wants to fight their way out of the Play-In Tournament spot they've been stuck in over the past few seasons, that's one area that needs to change. Even though the Heat are currently sixth in the East standings, they can't expect that to remain the case if they continue to struggle in these games.
Heading into the second half of this season, that's certainly one trend to keep a close eye on for the Heat.
Miami's regression could be coming
But, I suppose, on the flip side, that does mean the Heat are taking care of business when playing bad teams. That they are. Miami is 13-2 against teams with losing records so far this season, and that's on par with some of the best teams in the league.
As the midway part of the season quickly approaches, something has to give for the Heat.
We're going to find out, with some clarity, whether this Heat team is more of the one that dominates bad teams or the one that struggles with good ones.
If the Heat can't keep beating the bad teams, things could quickly unravel this season. On the flip side, if Miami can begin beating the good teams at a better percentage, they'll have a real chance to climb up the standings in the East.
However, if you had to guess, you'd expect Miami to fall a bit back to the mean when playing against teams under .500. Last season, the Heat won just 12 games all season long against teams over .500.
They "beat up" on the bad teams, but certainly didn't win at the 86 percent clip that they've been doing so far this season.
In other words, if you expect the Heat to regress at all during the second half of this season, it's almost likely going to come against the bad teams.
That means the Heat's better-than-expected start to the year is certainly a mirage. It's fool's gold that they can't keep relying on, especially as the push toward the postseason begins in the next couple of months.