The Miami Heat are in third place in the East right now, having lost their third straight game on Sunday against Chicago, and the big three (in lowercase) made a big deal about it, even crying about the loss behind closed doors. Who told the rest of the world about the team’s private breakdown? Their coach, Erik Spoelstra. From the AP:


Spoelstra said some players were moved to tears in the Heat locker room. This much is clear: He and the Heat are hurting.

“One of these days, we will break through,” Spoelstra said.

So how badly have the Heat missed expectations? Quite impressively, actually.

What’s more important is this astonishing lack of clutch play from Miami’s troika of LeBron James(notes), Wade and Bosh. All three had exemplary clutch statistics in the seasons leading up to 2010-11, but in shots taken with less than 10 seconds to go in the fourth quarter or overtime, with Miami trailing by three or fewer points, the Heat have gone 1 for 18 this season.

–Kelly Dwyer/Ball Don’t Lie

Wade, Bosh, and James are finally suspecting what the world already knew: a team just can’t waltz into an NBA game with their Nike contracts and their talcum powder and their probably-should-be-a-technical-foul pull-ups on the rim and expect to win. That might work against Angola and Greece, but not against Derrick Rose and the Bulls. Maybe James should hand some of that chalk to his mother, who could take care of his diaper rash. Poor baby.