Miami Heat Must Dodge Complacency Issues In Game 2 Of 2016 NBA Playoffs

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What does a 32-point victory in the opening game of a playoff series get you besides a 1-0 start on your home court? How about pundits from ESPN to TNT talking about the type of threat you could be, or people the like Brad Daugherty proclaiming that you are a “legitimate threat” to his former Cleveland Cavaliers. For the Miami Heat‘s sake, they have to pray that this newfound praise does nothing to make them overlook Wednesday night’s game.

This has been a year where the only constant for the Heat has been being inconsistent. The ups have been as high as beating the Cavs by 21 points and the downs have been as low as losing to the Los Angeles Lakers and blowing a 26-point first-half lead to the Boston Celtics.

To say that their play has been bipolar would not be an understatement, and it’s mainly because they can be very bad at the things that they were good at on Sunday — like ball movement, rebounds and turnovers.

Somewhere in the back of their psyche, the Heat have to remember that their win was only worth one game in the series, so they cannot look two rounds down the line like the pundits do. They have to live in the moment like Chris Bosh‘s pre-postseason message to them, because a player never truly knows when it will be his last chance to ball.

This is why you see Udonis Haslem playing on a torn plantar fascia that would have had most people out for months. It’s also why Dorell Wright is basking in eight points in garbage minutes on his second go-round in Miami.

No one wants to squander these opportunities, but there will be letdowns. So if all else fails to motivate them, they have to look no further than their old mantra of trying to do it for one of their band of brothers. After all, Bosh has not officially been ruled out yet. This means there may still be hope for the big man to come back if they do not let up and try to ride the wave as far as they can.

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