Miami Heat: Lions at home, Underachievers away – NBA Feature
The Miami Heat seem to have found themselves in a bit of a fix.
At home, they are one of the strongest teams in the NBA. This season, only two teams have managed to beat the Miami Heat at the American Airlines Arena. They have the best home record in the league, an amazing 23-2 and their star players tend to perform much better when playing at home, just like we saw last night with LeBron James scoring a season high 41 points against the Philadelphia 76ers last night. And tonight, up again the powerful Oklahoma City Thunder, King James again controlled the Heat offense throughout, leading them to their 17th consecutive home win.
However, when the Miami Heat goes on the road, they are an altogether different team. They do not look and feel as dominating and destructive as they do in their arena. Their psychological advantage because of the superstar status of James and Dwyane Wade is no longer to be seen. They have developed a sort of duality in their character as a team which is becoming more and more exposed as the season nears finish.
The Heat are 3-10 in away games since March 1. They have played a total of 17 games since that date and won 10 of those. Their weakness in a foreign environment was best displayed in their April 1 loss to the Boston Celtics, who reduced a team averaging 100.69 points per game to just 72, and won by a margin of 19 points. Rajon Rondo scored a triple double in that game and the Heat had no answer for him.
It is a fact that ever since LeBron James and Chris Bosh were added to the Heat roster, people immediately drew expectations from this group, which no team could accomplish. They carry a pressure on their shoulders that other teams are not exposed to. But, we do realize that no team is perfect and we are not expecting them to be.
23-2 at home is as close to perfect as can be, if not perfect in itself. However, there is an underlying concern in the Miami team that even its own players have admitted to openly. They seem to choke under pressure in away games. It is a blessing for them that 9 out of their remaining 14 games of the season are at the American Airlines Arena.
Heat are currently 6 wins clear of the 3rd ranked Indiana Pacers and have already qualified for the playoffs. But come the playoffs, and Miami will have to find answers to their troubles in foreign territory if they want to proceed to the finals, yet again. They have the 2nd best record in the conference and the third best in the NBA, though San Antonio is very close with 9 straight wins and a record of 38-14.
Hence, it is not likely they will get home court advantage in the later stages of the playoffs. The Heat has a few games – total 14 with nine of them at home - before the playoffs commence to find their footing and come together as a consistent group of individuals. Because at this moment, their weakness has been exposed and opposing teams have taken notice of it.
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