Miami Heat Won’t Reach Postseason Potential Until They Shed Inconsistencies

Before the Miami Heat ventured out for their first road test of the 2016 NBA playoffs, Dwyane Wade shared the kind of sage advice only a battle-tested vet possesses.

“Understand that we’re going to see a totally different team,” the three-time champion warned.

Wade’s words were meant to describe the Charlotte Hornets, who would surely be emboldened by their home fans and desperate after falling into a 2-0 series hole. But it was the Heat who looked further removed from their normal selves during Saturday’s 96-80 loss.

Of course, maybe that’s the best reflection of who the Heat have actually been throughout the season. No sooner had they seemingly cemented themselves as the Cleveland Cavaliers’ biggest obstacle in the Eastern Conference than they failed to bury a Hornets team that appeared to be on its death bed.

Charlotte’s most important two-way player, Nicolas Batum, was sidelined by a sprained left ankle. Its starting backcourt of Kemba Walker and Courtney Lee combined to score 25 points and miss 23 shots. The Hornets misfired on 13 of 18 three-point attempts. They had a single starter shoot above 46 percent and hit just 38.9 percent from the field as a team.

The game was gift-wrapped for Miami, but the Heat couldn’t tear the wrapping paper.

Their offense—explosive only days before—failed to ignite at any level. After hitting 52.9 percent from distance in the first two games, Miami shot just 37.8 percent inside the paint.

“Just one of those nights,” Goran Dragic said after an 11-point effort on 4-of-13 shooting, per Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post. “We usually make those shots.”

That pretty well encapsulated the feeling on Miami’s side. Not to discredit what the Hornets accomplished—”You have to give them credit because they came out with great energy,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters—but Miami felt the game was there for the taking.

“The shots were there because they pack the paint so much,” Hassan Whiteside said, per Lieser. “We missed some easy shots.”

Offensive lulls can strike any team. But the Heat have a frightening pattern of shifting between great and ghastly, often without a discernible rhyme or reason.

In Game 3, they found themselves on the wrong end of an 18-0 run in the third quarter. And it wasn’t even their worst period of the last two …

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