Miami Heat: Turnovers Issues Leading To Slow Start
Mario Chalmers has been wreaking havoc for the Miami Heat this season, including a five-steal perfomance against Derrick Rose and Chicago on opening night. (Photo Credit: Mark Runyon, Basketball Schedule)
The Miami Heat have established themselves as a disruptive powerhouse defensively; coercing opposing offenses into mistakes and making them pay with the likes of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on fast breaks. However, this time the hunter has become the hunted per say as the Heat are currently averaging 17 turnovers per game thus far, which is just 17th in the association. This follows a season whereby the South Florida outfit was among the best at taking care of the ball as they only give up possession just 13.3 times per game.
Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls were the first to exploit Miami’s lack of care with the ball as they forced the champions into 20 turnovers on opening night. That led to Chicago having 30 points off turnovers and it nearly resulted in a comeback from a 25-point deficit as they cut the lead down to eight late in the fourth quarter.
Michael Carter-Williams was next as he had himself a night to remember in his first outing, finishing the game with nine steals to set a new NBA rookie debut record. This time, Miami was made to pay for their sloppy play as Philadelphia stunned the much favored Heat with a 114-110 win.
That loss to the young Sixers team was largely due to Philly stealing the ball 16 times and converting them into 27 points on the other end. There was also a few on the opening 19-0 run that sent them on their way to the W, but perhaps the biggest ones were the two costly cough-ups by LeBron in the closing stages of the game.
Matchups against Brooklyn and Washington also brought about 16 and 17 turnovers to the total, but it did calm down to just 11 in a win at Toronto Tuesday night.
On the other hand, it’s not like Miami themselves still aren’t harassing offenses as they are forcing 18.4 turnovers per game which is seventh best in the NBA; continuing on from the preseason where they forced at least 21 miscues per game in all eight contests. Mario Chalmers has been the main culprit so far as he currently tied for fourth place, averaging three steals a game in his five contests.
Sure, we’re only five games into the 2013-14 season, but if the issue isn’t addressed soon, it could end up being yet another thorn in the Miami Heat’s attempt to win three straight titles, in addition to the rebounding deficiencies that currently haunt them.
[slider_pro id=”16″]