At this point, it’s become painfully obvious that the Miami Heat aren’t exactly the Good Ship Conquest. But after the LeBron James–Erik Spoelstra “bump” Saturday night in Miami’s 106-95 loss to Dallas, the waters off South Beach are downright choppy.
If, like us, you missed the bump — Cheers & Jeers HQ spent Saturday night unsuccessfully trying to watch the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State game on ESPN3.com — here’s a brief rundown: Spoelstra, furious as the Mavericks opened the second half on an 11-0 run, burned a timeout after a Dirk Nowitzki bucket and stormed off the bench and onto the court. James, meanwhile, moved toward the bench and clipped shoulders with Spoelstra.
The brief episode could be dismissed as inadvertent. Except this is Miami. The bump preceded a heated team huddle during the timeout and a players-only meeting following the game. It’s still too early to call for Spoelstra to take his coaching talents elsewhere, but consider that the Heat — now 9-8 entering Monday night’s game against the Wizards — were 11-10 when Pat Riley replaced Stan Van Gundy in 2005.
Get ready for history to repeat itself.
