Miami Heat - Double Digit Losses (Big 3 Era)

The South Florida media is making a big deal over Sunday nights 16-point loss to Western Conference favorite, Oklahoma City Thunder. This game was highly anticipated and was considered the "2012 NBA Finals Preview".  While unpleasant to watch for Heat fans, was this loss really telling of what may come of a Finals match-up between these two teams or was it merely a poorly played game?

Going back to the start of the 2010-11 season, or as I like to call it, The Big 3 Era, the Heat have suffered 13 double digit losses (postseason included).

Date	Opponent	Next Result
11/22/2010	vs IND	W by 5
11/27/2010	at DAL	L by 2
1/13/2011	at DEN	W by 5
3/4/2011	at SA	W by 30
3/16/2011	vs OKC	L by 16
3/29/2011	at CLE	W by 7
5/7/2011	at BOS	W by 8
5/15/2011	at CHI	W by 10
6/12/2011	vs DAL	W by 11
1/13/2012	at DEN	N/A
2/8/2012	at ORL	W by 12
3/4/2012	at LAL	N/A
3/25/2012	at OKC	N/A

In the rematch of the double digit loss game, the Heat have responded and won 80%  of the games (8-2).  The two losses were the Mavericks 2 point win in Miami to halt the Heat's 12 game win streak and last night's Thunder victory in OKC, although this "rematch" was held over a year later. 

The Heat have proven to be able to bounce back from big losses and learn from their mistakes, most noticeably last season's Eastern Conference Finals. Miami responded to the Bulls 21-point drubbing of the Heat in Game 1, only to come back and win the next four straight and solidify their spot in the NBA Finals. After the Mavericks embarrassed the Heat in the finals, winning by double digits only in the final Game 6, Miami regrouped in the extended off-season and made a statement in a huge win to open the 2011-12 season. 

Spoelstra and the coaching staff have done a superb job in addressing what went wrong and turning it around the next time. Anybody remember the Heat's 30-point loss to the team with the best record in the Western Conference last season in the Spurs? Ten days later they came back with a 30-point win of their own. The Thunder may be the team with the most talent outside of what is featured on South Beach, but lets not get ahead of ourselves. The regular season has its ups and downs and Sunday night was unfortunately one of the low points of the season. The have bounced back before and you can count on them bouncing back again.