Heat get what they deserve in Cleveland

CLEVELAND -- This is the fear for the Miami Heat, a concern evident in head coach Erik Spoelstra's demeanor and words after they let the Cleveland Cavaliers beat them 102-90 on Tuesday night: That's there's always a letdown lurking for a team of such talent.

"The process of us losing this game started two games ago," Spoelstra said. "It did. That's the reality, that this was coming to us. The majority of the time in this league you get what you deserve and we got exactly what we deserved."

Spoelstra was talking about how the Heat, despite winning, had spent the past few games relying on offense and eschewing defense, and there are valid concerns here:

• How important Chris Bosh is to this team and, on off nights like this one in which he had only 10 points and four rebounds, how susceptible Miami becomes.
• A bench that scored six points.
• A lack of effort and drive that saw the 15-58 Cavs outrebound Miami by 14.

"Our identity is a little bit lost after three games, where we think we're going to beat teams offensively," Spoelstra said. "And we've made so much progress offensively that that can be the danger. And now when you have an off night and you don't defend and the team shoots 56 percent you get what you deserve."

Perhaps, but it's also true that the Quicken Loans Arena lacked the fire, anger and energy of that cauldron of hate the Heat stepped into Dec. 2, when LeBron James made his first post-Decision return to Cleveland.

Minus that animus, there was less for LeBron to feed off of, less energy to draw on, and he simply did not have the same focus and drive Tuesday. Neither did his team.

LeBron finished with a triple-double -- 27 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists -- and Wade had 23 points. But all night the Heat, who are squandering a shot at the No. 2 seed in the East, were lackadaisical.

There's also this truth buried beneath the bad loss and the rueful revelry in Cleveland at this kind of sweet revenge: Some very good things happened Tuesday night that can bode well for Miami's postseason run if the Heat can harness those things while beating back their weaknesses.

Mike Bibby scored 23 points for a team desperate to find anyone other than the Big Three to step up, and he did it on 7-of-11 3-point shooting. If his cool head and steady nerves can be called on come the playoffs, it would mark a much-needed upgrade for a team lacking alternative scoring options and clutch players.

There was also the fact Udonis Haslem sat in the Heat locker room after a road game. His return date is murky, but the fact he was on the road at all signals a strong reminder that he can also bolster his team's chances once he's game-ready.

And then there was the most important sign of all for Heat fans, something easily missed, something much different than many months ago -- and something LeBron James deserves credit for.

It can be found in his postgame interview. It was one of the first things he said to the media:

"This game didn't just start tonight, it started the last couple of games," he said. "We know our identity is defense and for us to win games, even when we don't shoot well, we have to be able to defend. And we didn't do that tonight."

Which is exactly what Spoelstra had said.

Which is LeBron James backing his coach and echoing his coach after a loss that early on in this season would have sent him into self-preservation, self-indulgent or saying-stupid-things mode.

This was a more mature LeBron James. This was LeBron leading and simultaneously supporting Spoelstra, and it's important. The coach is right, the team needs to shake off its offensive arrogance and stick with defense. And the superstar is right to lend his voice and credibility to the cause.

Make no mistake, that's a telling, important and impressive move by LeBron.

Like the loss, one game is one game. So maybe it lasts and maybe it doesn't. But if Bibby can be cool in the clutch, and Dwyane Wade can bring out Bosh's best through mental warfare (like he did earlier this month), and LeBron can be the mature man he was Tuesday, the Heat could be on the verge of making the loss to Cleveland just a minor blip on the way to something great.

"You just try to learn from it," Wade said after the game. "There's always ebb and flows. You go through certain slumps."

That about sums up this Heat team. Miami has learned and grown this season, and it has still found ways to slip into slumps that defy logic.

Which of those two defining truths emerges as the stronger one a few weeks from now will shape just how far this team can go once, as LeBron likes to say, the playoffs start and everyone's record is 0-0.

You can follow Bill Reiter on Twitter.