The Heat Continue To Prove Us Wrong
After two impressive wins to start the Eastern Conference Finals, the Heat are now just two wins from the NBA Finals. And nobody can say they expected this from Miami. What are the Heat doing to make them 10-1 in the playoffs?
After two impressive wins to start the Eastern Conference Finals, the Heat are now just two wins from the NBA Finals. And nobody can say they expected this from Miami. What are the Heat doing to make them 10-1 in the playoffs?
Going into this postseason, the Heat were thought of as underdogs or a dark horse in the East. Many expected them to at least make the 2nd round and give the Bucks some trouble before eventually losing. You can put me into that category. But the Heat have not settled for a 2nd round exit to the #1 seed. And as of right now, it looks like they are heading into to the NBA Finals.
So why are the Heat so successful. Obviously your players have to play well for this to happen. Jimmy Butler has been marvelous throughout these playoffs. He scored 40 in Game 1 vs the Bucks. He scored 17 in the 4th quarter of Game 3 against Milwaukee to fuel the Heat to a 3-0 series lead. Jimmy has been that guy. But he has had some help. Bam Adebayo has been continuing his impressive run as he had a massive 3rd quarter against Boston in Game 2. Jae Crowder and Duncan Robinson have been hitting their 3’s at a high rate with Robinson hitting 6 in Game 2 vs the Celtics.
Goran Dragic has been inserted into the starting lineup, and the results have shown thus far. Dragic had 29 in Game 1 and 25 in Game 2 in the Eastern Conference Finals. He has been an actual Dragon. 20-year old Tyler Herro has also been show-stopping. The rookie from Kentucky is a great shooter but also a great passer and decision maker. He hit big shots in both the Bucks and Celtics’ series and had a near triple-double in Game 1 against Boston. He has scored in double digits for every single game during this postseason run. He has been in the closing lineup for the Heat and has shown incredible poise for his age.
The Heat are a well oiled machine with many scorers and defenders on their roster. But I think all of their success can be attributed to their coach, Eric Spoelstra.
Spoelstra has done a terrific job on both sides of the ball utilizing his weapons. On offense, Duncan Robinson draws so much attention. His off-ball movement creates so many problems for defense, and when he gets it going it’s very tough to stop. In Game 2, Robinson hit 6 3’s. So Jaylen Brown couldn’t afford to leave him for an open shot. So he watched as Bam Adebayo had double-digits in the 3rd quarter on easy rolls to the rim.
Robinson is similar to Curry that he does so much for the offense that doesn’t show on the stat sheet. And with so many eyes looking to Robinson, the Heat take advantage. The other Heat slip into pockets of space when the defense isn’t looking. When Robinson is curling, Bam gets some space down low as the defenders look to make sure he is covered.
Erik Spoelstra has done a masterful job with the offense. And on defense, it’s more of the same. Spoelstra is like Nick Nurse, he throws some curve-balls at you that you usually aren’t ready for. Sure Boston has played Nick Nurse for 7 games and is better prepared for such curve-balls, but the Heat are also very good at it. They run a zone where the forwards are at the top and the guards at the back, which is very odd.
But Spoelstra is getting the most out of his guys. They are buying into this culture and every single player playing during these playoffs has made an impact. I think that while I picked Boston to win this series and while they will likely win at least 1 game, the Heat are in a very good position to get back to the Finals and they are doing it on the great coaching of Erik Spoelstra.
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My Report From Day 28 of the Playoffs Will Be Posted Tomorrow, So Stay Tuned!
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