Miami Heat: Diagnosing the recent struggles of the team

Diagnosing the recent struggles of the Miami Heat: How this affects Miami long-term

After looking at the schedule, things make a little more sense. Although they played (and beat) quality teams at the start of the year, their recent three-game losing streak involved three games in four days on the road against Western Conference teams that, even missing stars, still project to be playoff teams.

The Miami Heat likely benefitted from a little shooting luck on both sides of the court to start, and that has seesawed violently in the other direction during this five-game stretch. If shooting percentages level out somewhere in the middle, this Heat team still projects to be one of the best in the league on offense and defense.

The schedule is still reasonably tough going forward, with six of the next eight games on the road, but contests against the ghastly New Orleans Pelicans and feisty-but-young Oklahoma City Thunder should provide an opportunity to get some wins on the board.

Jimmy Butler’s ankle injury against the Clippers is cause for concern, but it appears to be relatively minor. The Heat are still being investigated for tampering, which may result in a draft pick loss, but it’s all speculation at this point. Losing picks would deplete the Heat’s already-limited trade asset pool, but it likely wouldn’t have a significant on-court impact this season.

Long story short, I believe that the problems the Miami Heat have faced aren’t indicative of deeper systemic issues. A little better shooting luck and cleaning up some defensive miscues will go a long way towards righting the ship. Overall, this Miami team still projects to be a top-four seed in the East and legitimate championship contender.