Miami Heat
The Miami Heat became the first five-seed to ever make the NBA Finals last season, but it seems like nobody is talking about them this year and a lot of people are making last season’s playoff run seem like a fluke. Well, their playoff success was no fluke as this team is very well-balanced and has one of the best head coaches in the entire league.
Eric Spoelstra is one of the greatest coaches in the NBA right now and he does not get enough credit for what he has done with the Miami Heat. He has been the head coach of the Miami Heat for 12-seasons now and has missed the playoffs just three times, while making the NBA Finals 5 times, winning two titles with Miami. The Miami Heat have had just two losing seasons under Spoelstra and have consistently been one of the league’s best overall defensive teams.
This season, the Heat have 7 players on their roster that shot over 35% from three-point range a season ago and perimeter offense should continue to be a point of emphasis in the Miami Heat’s offensive game plan. Miami was second in the league last season in three-point percentage and was 6th in made three-pointers per game.
With two young sharpshooters in Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro, the Miami Heat will once again be a lethal three-point shooting time and fully healthy in the playoffs, they will be a tough team to beat. Bam Adebayo made his first All-Star game appearance last season and is only going to continue getting better.
If Adebayo and Gordan Dragic were healthy during the NBA Finals last season, that series would have been completely different and who knows, maybe the Miami Heat would have been favorites to repeat as champions this year.
What made last year’s Miami Heat team so likeable and easy to root for was the fact that they had no sense of selfishness and all were playing for each other instead of themselves. Pretty much every person on this team, including the head coach, had a chip-on-their-shoulder and had been criticized over the years.
The Heat’s ability to come together and make the NBA Finals was one of the greatest postseason runs in the history of the NBA, even though they did not win the title. This season, their mindset will be no different as they will continue to play as a team and as a result, will finish as one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference.
If there is one team that could compete with the likes of the Milwaukee Bucks and the Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference this season, it is the Miami Heat. Jimmy Butler is on a quest to bring Miami a championship and with the talent surrounding him on this roster, the Heat have a very real chance to once again win the Eastern Conference and fight for their 4th NBA Championship in franchise history.
