Filed under: Heat
MIAMI -- "To be the best you have to beat the best."
That tired sports cliche may as well be permanently posted on the blackboard in the Miami Heat locker room until they've played a larger sample size of games against elite teams. For now, the Heat can only be content with having been competitive in their several losses to playoff teams -- but moral victories weren't the stated goal when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh joined forces last summer.
When the Heat have beaten playoff-caliber teams this season, they look unstoppable -- as they did against at home vs. the Orlando Magic (97-70) and on the road against the Phoenix Suns (123-96) and Utah Jazz (111-98).
Taking all of their games into account, the Heat are second in the league in terms of average scoring margin and average biggest lead. But the losses are what critics will focus on, and the Heat must answer to them after their latest setback at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.
"The one thing about us, all year we're going to continue to get better to get to the elite level," explained Wade. "We're 30 games in, and these elite teams have been playing together for a long time. That's why we play 82 games. So we can get prepared for when it's money time, playoff time, and we're there and we're ready to be able to compete seven games vs. any elite team in the NBA. I think it's safe to say that we're calm enough that even now ... we can compete with any team for seven games and it's going to be a tough series."
Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/12/21/miami-heat-still-struggling-to-close-out-games-against-elite-tea/
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