Besides the Indiana Pacers throwing in 54 points during the third quarter on Tuesday night, the other surprise was seeing the Miami Heat blow a 22-point lead. People watching this one early figured they had seen enough when the Heat raced out to the big lead against the Jazz. The Heat went from up 21 early in the third quarter to up only three by the end of it.
What happened that led to the collapse? Guard Eddie House thinks the team may have been bored. From the Heat Index via Slam Online, “For whatever reason, I don’t think we had that sense of urgency. I think we got up 20 (points) and might have just gotten bored with that process of how we got up 20.”
That certainly makes sense — they figured they had it and no longer needed to try hard. This is the type of comment House needs to keep to himself to avoid the media scrutiny that will certainly follow.
Clearly we’re seeing an issue of mental focus for Miami and it’s probably a good thing it’s happening to them early in the year. It’s like a jock screwing around in class, getting an F on a test, and seeing all the nerds laugh at him; the Miami Heat players are not as cool as they think they are, and they’re going to have to start trying harder the entire game. The party is officially over.
Photo Credit: Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images
