NBA Miami Heat

Miami Heat Pretend To Be Los Angeles Clippers For A Day

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By @blackirishpr

Hassan Whiteside

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It can honestly be said that, last night, the Miami Heat pretended to be the Los Angeles Clippers for a game. Now that is weird to say about a team with a greater history of winning and three championships under their belts, but the way Pat Riley’s paid troops have been falling apart is nothing short of duplicating the California kids’ past losing ways.

Something about yesterday was different though. Perhaps it was the Heat being featured in an early Sunday game against this season’s matinee kings.

First off, there were the bizarre chants of “Let’s Go Heat” heard throughout both halves of the game, as if Miami was playing an unofficial home game in the Staples Center. Then there was the fact that Dwyane Wade stepped under the bright lights and did his best Chris Paul impersonation, continuing to be the floor general and dishing out 10 assists.

Chris Bosh also did something that we weren’t used to seeing over the past four years. He killed it on the court in other ways than just camping out for threes. He did it the 2015 Blake Griffin way — or maybe his old Toronto Raptors way — by using a relentless mix of getting to the paint, driving to the hoop and hitting his normal mid-range jump shots. And he did it for 34 points worth of destruction.

The only thing missing were the dunks. But those came from 7-foot center Hassan Whiteside.

The four-year pro spent his evening frustrating DeAndre Jordan at his own game of tip dunks, alley-oops and blocks. And most of all Whiteside was an efficient 10-for-13 with a career-high 23 points and 16 rebounds, while Jordan only offered up four points and six boards.

The entire night was a step in the right direction, but baffling at the same time. If the team can take down a Western Conference powerhouse, why are they unable to put together a stretch of positive play, let alone win their first set of back-to-back games since the tail end of November? In one word: underachieving.

It’s time to shake the LeBron James hangover and get to playing real “Miami Heat” basketball.

Richard Nurse is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @blackirishpr or add him to your network on Google.

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