http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2011/03/04/statscube-heat-go-cold-in-the-clutch/?ls=iref:nbahpt1 The numbers are interesting when it comes to the true crunch time.
it's mind boggling how they can struggle in the 4th. you have 2 of the clutchest players in the game from years' past (wade and james). they'll figure it out.
well at least the numbers back up my observations. i've thought all season that the heat haven't really been bad in crunch time like everyone thinks and the 5 min/within 5 points stats back that up as their offense stays very good during that time. it's just that they tend to be the team that is trailing in those last minutes (they seem to either be winning big or trailing small in every game) so even with good offense they just tend to catch up then lose, not win. and i've also thought they've been horrendous on game-tying/winning 3's and i'm glad someone finally ran the numbers. 2 for 15, wow. i knew wade hit that 3 against utah (they lost anyway) and house hit a 3 against OKC, but i wondered if i was missing any. apparently not. i know nobody is going to have great numbers in those situations as sometimes you're just forcing a 3 against a D that knows you need a 3 with not a lot of time to get around that D, but 2-15 with 6 different people having a chance to come through is pretty crappy. and 2-8 even on the 2's. and one of those was a breakaway dunk by lebron so it's really 1-7! they could use their feet on 22 shots and do better than 3-22. what a season. they need a long 2's and 3's by opponents with under 30 seconds opponent trailing, tied, or at most up 1. i wonder if that's as bad as i think it is. because it seems like teams are at about 80% against miami.
but they don't struggle in the 4th. their offense is still apparently very good late in close games. really for the first 47:30 of the game. it's just amazingly bad those last 30 seconds no matter who shoots.
