This is interesting! Feb. 27, 2020, pre-COVID: It took COVID for the "Heat" to figure it out. That's the year in the bubble they made their surprise run all the way to the Finals. You know what I think it is? The NBA is mentally exhausting. Pat Riley will not hear that but it is the truth. You can be young and athletic and as physically fit as you can possibly be, but that doesn't prevent you from getting mentally worn out. That was in February; last night, and the second-quarter catatonia against Boston, happened in November. The team should not be going all Stonewall Jackson at the Seven Days in November but the signs of mental fatigue can be more difficult to recognize than a knock you receive in a muscle or joint that you physically feel.
Miami Heat turns attention to closing strong after consecutive bad losses
After being strong finishers earlier in the season, the Miami Heat have sputtered in the fourth quarter the past two games
The Heat began the year as strong closers, but have failed in the clutch of late."We get the lead but it's just crazy how they get back," guard Goran Dragic said. "It's like 20 seconds, they make a run ...
The Heat began the week by giving up a 19-point, fourth quarter lead against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the worst team in the Eastern Conference. Afterward, center Bam Adebayo said, "it can't get worse than this."
Two days later, it did.
The Heat appeared comfortably ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday, leading by 12 with 3 minutes, 59 seconds left in the game. They were then outscored 20-5 and lost for the seventh time in nine games. For the Timberwolves, it was just their second win since Jan. 11. The Heat also blew leads against the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets in consecutive games in January.
"For whatever reason, this team, we're going to have to go through a little pain together...I think we all felt that we were in control of the game, much like the other night [against Cleveland]."-Erik Spoelstra
You're thinking I'm going to say, "Well, you should know, Spo!" but I'm not. I value the honesty.
Guard Jimmy Butler, who was in the lineup for the first time after missing the past two games, took most of the blame for the collapse. He had three turnovers to help spark the Timberwolves' rally.
"I'm not concerned. I'm not frustrated," Butler said. "I think we know we got to get stops in the end. It damn sure helps if I don't turn the ball over three straight times. That's me and I got to be better. If that doesn't happen, then we get up shots. We come out with a (win)."
Jimmy again being brutally honest on himself. No excuses.
This is on last night's game:
Jimmy Butler had this to say,
“I just think everybody gotta grow up a little bit..."
No, I don't know what that means? "Fragile"?
Oh, I am soo glad somebody other than me is truth-telling like this:
The Miami Heat have a talented team but they might not be good enough to compete with the other top teams in the Eastern Conference. The biggest offseason move was bringing in Kyle Lowry and he has been horrible for the Heat so far. He’s averaging 12 points per game and only shooting 30% from 3-point range and almost under 40% from the field. If Miami wants a chance to win an NBA title, they’re going to need him to step up and play like he’s capable of.
the Heat also held a 106-97 lead over the Los Angeles Lakers with 4:45 left Nov. 10 before losing in overtime.
Six days after the second quarter collapse against Boston at home.
Two days after Boston. So that is four in the first three weeks of November!
...
Remember when the 2010-11 Miami Heat couldn’t win close games? In March 2011, Tom Haberstroh wrote that, “the Heat’s abysmal close-game résumé is reaching historical depths.” Miami’s record in games decided by five or fewer points became a running jab pundits wielded to dismiss the Heat.
Even the 2019-20 Heat struggled to finish games. Feb. 20, 2020, the Heat held a 124-119 lead over the (lottery-bound) Atlanta Hawks with 1:51 left before Trae Young, on his way to dropping a 50-burger, led Atlanta back.
...
Both the 2011 and 2020 Heat won close games in the playoffs to make it to the Finals. Miami inability to hold fourth-quarter leads in those regular-season games didn’t continue in the playoffs. (The Heat’s blown 15-point lead in Game 2 of the 2011 Finals notwithstanding.)
These are great articles. Now, I don't know. Mental fatigue cannot be in Nov. "Fragile," mental fragility, 2010/11 we lost the Finals to Dallas in LBJ's first season. 2020 we lost the Finals to LBJ's "Lakers"! Every other team has this issue every year. How many times have you read, "So-and-So Blows 20-Point lead, Loses"? Are these articles written about every team? I don't know that. Are they written about the "Heat" more because we were good in 2010/11, 2019/20 and 2021? New Orleans blew a sizable early lead against us just like week. Anybody at the Times-Picayune writing about the "Pelicans" inability to hold a lead? I very much doubt that.
