LeBron James has a simple explanation for why the Miami Heat are 4-3 through their first seven games of the season: they’re not playing good defense.
After the Heat’s practice on Monday, James told reporters that the team has been playing like crap defensively.
“It’s simple,” James said as the Heat prepared for Tuesday’s home game against the Milwaukee Bucks. “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.”
The Heat are allowing 100.9 points per game, which puts them 21st in the league. The Indiana Pacers, who lost to the Heat in seven games in the Eastern Conference finals last season, are leading the league with just 85.3 points allowed per game. There’s obviously a huge difference between those two marks.
Sure, the Heat aren’t playing their best, but keep in mind it’s only November. They need to play well enough to get a top seed for the playoffs, but the key isn’t dominating early but rather late in the season. If their defense isn’t improved come January, then I’d be concerned. Until then, I’m not sweating it.
