Q: Once again the Miami Heat have made their opponent look like zillion dollars. They simply are a bad team who may well be quitting. My hope of a .500 year is totally gone. There is nothing to show they could win two play-in games. – Roland, Borrego Springs, Calif.
A: I stand by the thought that this is not a team that has quit, but rather a team that is overmatched based on the current roster composition. For all the optimism and hope stressed by Erik Spoelstra, there simply is not enough to get over the hump against quality, playoff-level competition, be it the Celtics on Friday or the Grizzlies on Saturday (with the same possibility holding true this week against the Knicks, Pistons and Rockets).