Three Concerns After Heat's Loss to the Bulls

The Miami Heat continue to disappoint against the beasts of the East, namely the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics, against whom the Big Treat are now a combined 0-5. The silver lining for Miami is that they were competitive in every game, including the first ever game together for the Treat on the road against the defending conference champs to start the season and the first meeting in Chicago when LeBron was sidelined and Bosh suffered a knee injury which kept him out the rest of the game.

Excuse me? Bosh did not play last night either, you say?

While the Heat will be fine come playoff time, when beating them four out of seven times will be similar to hiking halfway up Mt. Everest, there are three reasons for concern after last night’s letdown.

Chris Bosh

The third wheel has performed quite admirably for a being a former superstar. He is still capable of lighting up the scoreboard and cleaning the boards all night, but if he cannot conjure up the will to go hard to the hole against the likes of Boozer and Noah, Bynum and Gasol, or Shaq and Garnett, then the Heat will be reduced to a super duo-- a duo that may need to wait until next season to hoist a championship banner.

Bosh has done the best he can to shed the ‘soft’ moniker, hopefully he does not digress.

Who takes the last shot?

Mike Miller had a wide-open three-point look at the end of the game against Boston a couple of weeks ago. A well-run play that did not result in a made basket. Last night, LeBron chucked a three with more than 15 seconds left in the game. A poorly run play that ended appropriately.

If Miami is in the situation where it needs a quick shot, a situation where the only play call is” inbound it to him and get out of the way” (a situation they were NOT in last night), then the ball must be passed to Wade, as he is clearly more adept at creating the necessary space to get his own shot.

Chemistry issues

There is legitimate concern surrounding the Heat’s ability to put all the pieces together in time for a title run. Mixing this many new ingredients into a dish will surely require tinkering.

But why is it that the Bulls seemed like they have been together all season when two of their main clogs, Boozer and Noah, have only played a handful of games together?