LeBron James thinks he has an answer for the two-time defending champion Miami Heat's uneven 4-3 start.
"It's simple," James told ESPN as the Heat prepared for Tuesday's home game against the Milwaukee Bucks. "These first seven games, we're playing like s--- defensively. It's that simple. We're not a sugarcoat team. We came in and got right down to it. We're terrible on defense, and we've got to change that."
James' mini-outrage came on the heels of the Heat's inexplicable 111-110 home loss to the lowly Boston Celtics Saturday night. Jeff Green's buzzer-beating three at the buzzer spelled the difference for Boston.
The Celtics scored 31 fourth quarter points, exploiting a porous Miami defense that has the champs ranked 25th among 30 NBA teams in defensive efficiency and also in the bottom third in points allowed at 100.9 per game.
The Heat opened Tuesday's practice with some harsh admonishments from coach Erik Spoelstra, followed by a two hour practice primarily concentrating on defense. After the workout, James twice used expletives during his session with reporters when asked the source of the team's poor play.
"We're playing good basketball at times, but besides the Chicago game, we haven't played a full game," James said. "But the good thing about this team, we came right in here and knew exactly what kind of [work] day it was going to be. [Spoelstra] gave it to us direct. We all like constructive criticism. We got on each other and we probably had one of the best practices we've had in a while."
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