The Heat is an enigma. Supremely talented, the team remains unable to marshal its talent late in games and against the better teams. We keep hearing about how they need to learn each other’s games, but the season is in the homestretch with fewer than 20 games left. Shouldn’t James, Wade and Bosh have meshed by now?
The team, it appears, is at a turning point for the season. The current five-game losing streak (and six out of seven) — with the Lakers on deck — could rip the last supports from the Heat’s season. Or it could lead the team to bond. But the last few days — reports of crying in the locker room, complaints from one of its high-priced stars — do not bode well.
The Heat have nine games against playoff teams out of its last 18, including games with the Lakers, Boston, San Antonio and Oklahoma City. Orlando, which is closing fast on the Heat, having moved to within three games in the Southeast conference with a somewhat easier schedule.
The fact is, the Heat have gone from the likelihood of facing Philadelphia in round one as the two seed, to facing off against the Hawks as a four seed. Either way, the Heat should be favored, but does anyone really believe at this point that Miami is playoff-ready?
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- Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. It can be ordered here.
- Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.
Hank Kalet 