Sports Daily: Going Through the Motions in Miami

[RaychelSnr]

There's no question that the NBA's Eastern Conference is struggling as many playoff eligible teams could make the postseason with losing records. For the top tier clubs like Indiana and Miami this can be a positive -- but it also could lead to complacency.

The cynical sports fan inside all of us sees a Miami Heat team that has won the last two NBA titles and may not feel as though they have as much left to prove. Knowing they can make the playoffs with minimal effort going forward also opens the door to coasting. Not to mention the grind of an 82-game schedule. But while the West is battling for every inch, can a team like Miami simply "turn it on" when the playoffs arrive and still make a championship run?

Sound Off: If the Miami Heat fail to make a deep playoff run this year, who or what will be to blame?

Sports Headlines for January 16, 2014

• Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was back at practice Wednesday after missing time due to an illness.
• Poking at his relationship with the NBA's outgoing commissioner, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says he wants one last fine before David Stern's tenure is over.
• There's little surprise here, but Peyton Manning has been voted the most respected player in the NFL by league players.
• Don't watch the Handball World Championships? You might after seeing this ridiculous goal. [Video]
• It's not the Magic-Buss connection in Los Angeles as former Lakers star Magic Johnson claims the organization's failures rest on Jim Buss.

[scottyp180]

Miami can definitely "coast" into the playoffs. First of all the east it weak. I dont see any team in the east, other than the pacers, having a chance at beating the heat in a 7 game series. They also have the talent to do this and in fact taking it easy might help them stay fresh. Wade cannot afford to go all out everygame and expect to peform at a high level throughout the playoffs. When it comes to the playoffs lebron will make sure his team is all in.

A couple years ago the same thing was being said about the celtics and they still got to the finals and eastern conference finals those years even with some key injuries. That was also a much older team that shouldn't have been able to "turn it off and on". I would be shocked if the heat didn't atleast make the eastern conference finals, barring any major injuries.

[rbstar420]

Like bosh said earlier in the year, he can't watch teams play on tv because when they come to face miami they play WAY harder and are trying to prove theirselves against them. Heat are in no way coasting teams are making them work for everything.

[statum71]

Boredom. The Lakers were the exact same way when they were winning multiple titles.

Once you've hoisted the O'Brien Trophy a few years in a row, I'm sure it starts to feel like the regular season doesn't matter. They're bored. This is another reason 3 or more in a row is so difficult.

[Vni]

Haha.

Hard to stay thirsty for regular games when you been winning so much.

[lilteapot]

Quote: Originally Posted by Vni

Haha. Hard to stay thirsty for regular games when you been winning so much.

that is pretty disrespectful but pretty funny lol.

[EAGLESFAN10]

They are definately bored because they should be beating teams like the Nets, Knicks, Wizards etc....

But also the 3 youngins need to step up (Beasley, Cole, and Chalmers)
And Bosh

They need to get it right on Defense aswell , the way their playing Defense against the Hawks right now is not a good look at all

But long story short come Playoff time they will start Playing Heat Basketball

[isdatyt]

They could coast all the way to the ECF. No team in the east is good enough to be Miami 4 out of 7 times. Even with their recent play, injury plagued line-ups and apparent lack of effort, they're only 3.5 games out of first and they've still all been close losses. They turned a 30 point deficit into 10 points against the Wizards, just because. As long as they keep Wade on ice and the twin turbo engine that powers the machine we call LeBron is still working, nobody in the East will even pose a real threat until they face the Pacers.