The “Heat” (2-5) and “Native American Soldiers” (3-4) tip off agayne in Bang Bus Arena tonight sometime after 7:30. When last we saw these two, the Eastern Conference runners-up and the NBA champions Miami got scalped by the Bay 123-110. They played their best game offensively though and who can stop those other guys when they are on the warpath?
Frustration however is getting comfy in its seat on the Bus. Bam Adebayo allowed as how he is “fucked up by it,” the 2-5 record. Tyler Herro’s stat line has improved by leaps and bounds but head man Erik Spoelstra made a face and waved off a doting pencil’s look-on-the-bright side question after the Western swing. The bottom line is winning games, not individual stats, was Spo’s answer. Tyler seems to be the lightening rod for like sentiments and God help me if I know.
The “Heat” is weirdly unsynchronized for a group with all of its moveable parts untinkered seven games into the season. Discontent sits next to Frustration in an adjacent seat and the two are sprawling out for more leg room. The culprits have varied: effort, Kyle, lack of defense, Tyler. The latest is "identity", the team having lost its. The multiple culprits are good signs of unsynchronization.
The “Heat” are 1-3 in their own gym and have played their worst ball there. The point spread tonight is even. Another loss will drop them to 1-4 and 2-6, deeper into the NBA ghetto. A win, 2-3, 3-5, and they are in the low double number streets of Middlesbrough. If they are to get back to Park Avenue they can’t get there in one move. They have to stair-step their way up. The record is frustrating, alarming, but with 75 stairs to climb the sporting adage, "It's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game" is the most intelligent take on the record. The "Heat" are not going to get back to Park Avenue whatever their record is after tonight unless they play the remaining 74 games synchronized. A win playing the game how the "Heat" have determined it should be played would be a beautiful thing. But a win, say 133-129 in OT is not playing the game the right way. It's not sustainable over 74. A loss is never pretty but there are varying degrees of ugly. 79-83 would be a pretty loss; 129-133? Put Spo and Jimmy in strait jackets. Tonight is “just one.”
