‘The Heat is On’ by Timothy Watson III-June 6, 2012
June 5, 2012, South Beach Miami, FL-This may be the last time we ever see Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and his fans, as they lost 94-90 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals to Celtics and are facing elimination now.
Last night, I watched in utter delight as Celtics, future hall-of-famer, Paul “Da Truth” Pierce sunk a 3-point dagger right in the face of King James, despite his outstretched arms doing nothing to deter. I thought to myself: “Now this is what LeBron gets paid to do! How come he doesn’t come through???” The answer is simple: HEART.
Yes sir! I said it! AND WHAT?!!
My beloved Bulls center Joakim Noah has already said too: “They’re Hollywood as hell,” (when referring to the Miami Heat) whose comments go back to the 2010-11 season. But did we think his prophetic observation would still be holding true now during the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals? Not really but not surprising either.
The difference in this series between the Heat and Celtics is mental fortitude! Boston has been a team that has had to continually prove themselves so much this season. From being called “old” at the start, being called “over-the-hill” in the middle, and “too-tired” going into this series whereas Miami has been called “front-runners,” which has worked adversely for them unfortunately. This sense of false-entitlement, which the Heat first created for themselves, and later the media propagated (ESPN) over the years has fabricated a frail psyche as a result. So much so, that during last night’s postgame press conference, Heat coach, Erik Spoelstra, had to reiterate over and over again, as a defense, that: “It’s a loss. And that’s all it is.” OMG.
I got bad news for you. I know that Miami “answered the bell” of the naysayers earlier in the previous series against the Indiana Pacers, after trailing (2-1), by winning the next three and closing out in convincing fashion. But that was then and this is now. That was against a young, immature team that was just too cocky for themselves. This Celtics team is a championship-winning collective who lets their play speak for themselves. So you won’t find any bulletin-board material.
Also, we all saw the last home game of Miami’s “Big 3.” Because their coach explained afterwards that “I didn’t think it would necessarily be fair” to have played center Chris Bosh in the fourth quarter, he knew something that we didn’t know. Perhaps the thinking was that Bosh would be a liability on the defensive end. But, nonetheless, that was a disservice to those Heat fans last night, because after they lose again on Thursday, Bosh will become “Mr. Expendable.”
It’s all too pathetic that MVP LeBron James will be the blame for the ensuing Heat failure to win-it-all once again, if he doesn’t show up when it matters most! But I can’t have pity for him. He eliminated my Bulls in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals and unfortunately we didn’t meet them again for a rematch. So I won’t shed a tear at all.
And history shows that when LeBron’s teams (both Cleveland and Miami) trail (3-2) in a series, he is winless. Winless! That is (0-4) including twice to Celtics. So now the odds are stacked out-of-favor for the Heat to comeback to win this series. Let’s see if they have the HEART to prove the critics wrong!
But LeBron and company keep this in mind: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1, NIV).
Try this one because all else has failed.
awaywitwordzwatson
