The Miami Heat appear to be a bit off to start the season. While the 2013 NBA season is only a few weeks old, the Heat have struggled again some of the other top teams in the league. The 4-3 start is not sitting well with the two-time defending champions and LeBron James has diagnosed the issue as being sluggish on both ends of the court.
"It's simple," James said, ESPN.com. "These first seven games, we're playing like s--- defensively. It's that simple. We're not a sugarcoat team. We came in and got right down to it. We're terrible on defense, and we've got to change that."
James is right about the defense. Most recently, the Heat gave up 111 points to the Boston Celtics in a game that ended with a buzzer-beating 3-point shot that handed Miami their third loss of the year. The team gave up a four-point lead in the final three seconds of the game. The defensive struggles are becoming real issues for the Heat as they rank in the bottom third in the league in points allowed. Erik Spoelstra echoed James' words to the team.
"Regardless of who you are, where you've been, what you've done, what you're doing, you constantly have to work at it," Spoelstra said. "Not only physically. Sometimes it's mentally. It's your preparation. It's your attitude coming into the game. All of those things. We're not playing to our capabilities, so you have to jump right back on top of it."
The Heat have a tendency to start the season slow. Last year, they ranked just 26th in points allowed before heading into a 27-game win streak. The loss to the Celtics marks the second time in six games where an opponent has scored at least 111 points on the Heat. James believes a factor could be inconsistencies in the lineup as several players are dealing with injuries limiting their time on the court. He is hoping the loss to the rebuilding Celtics was a wake-up call to the team in search of their third-straight title.
"We're playing good basketball at times, but besides the Chicago game, we haven't played a full game," James said. "But the good thing about this team, we came right in here and knew exactly what kind of [work] day it was going to be. [Spoelstra] gave it to us direct. We all like constructive criticism. We got on each other and we probably had one of the best practices we've had in a while."
Miami will go one to face the Milwaukee Bucks at home on Tuesday night. James is certainly hoping the team steps up and plays well on both sides of the ball.
