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The Miami Heat made international news when they executed quite the coup a few seasons ago when they were able to bring together some of the best talent -- at their physical peaks -- that any team has ever had. Riding shooting guard Dwyane Wade back in the 2006 NBA Finals the Heat won a title, their franchise's first. They weren't satisfied and went out and dominated the 2010 Free Agency class by adding LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Heat fans were happy, and the rest of the league was mad. Miami went on to go to the NBA Finals three straight seasons, and won the last two.
This season the flying death machine spins on, as they are winning 70.8% of their games.
Some teams are actively trying to build teams to stop that machine dead in its' tracks. The Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, and Oklahoma City Thunder all want to prove that they are the best out there -- and in order to be the best the succession rites say you have to beat the best.
And if you are the Heat -- that means you fear no team more than you fear the Utah Jazz.
Over the last 11ish seasons, basically Wade's entire career, the Heat are an impressive 506 - 346, that's winning 59.4% of their games, or 48.7 games in an 82 game season. They've turned it on over the last five seasons to winning 251 - 109, or 69.7% of their games -- a whopping 57.2 games per 82 games. But one trend is not in their favor.
During that longer stretch they are 14-7 against the Utah Jazz, which is winning 2 of every 3 games, 67%. Recently though the troubles have started for the Heat. They are only 4 - 5 against the Jazz, winning only 44.4% of the time.
Complicating things are just how absurdly average the Jazz have been. Over that same stretch where the Heat won 506 regular season games and three titles the Jazz managed only 450 wins, and the best they did was get to the Western Conference Finals (really because the Golden State Warriors upset the Dallas Mavericks, a team that would win the NBA Title a few years later). The Heat that wins 69.7% of their games is losing against a Jazz team that wins only 51.9% of the time (42.6 games on average).
OKC has the big name, highly marketed, young players. Indiana has the defense and record. San Antonio has the legacy. But Utah actually has the winning record against the mighty Miami Heat.