Miami Heat: Why The Heat Will Not Win The Championship This Season
There is no doubt that the Miami Heat have a very talented roster. However, talent can only go so far. They have had trouble with the better teams in the NBA, while beating up on the league's lower ranked teams.
Today's game against the Boston Celtics showed why the Heat will not win a championship unless their game plan is tweaked.
The Heat cut the Boston lead down to two points at the 4:51 mark in the fourth quarter after two Dwyane Wade free throws. After those free throws, Miami went 1-8 from the field.
Miami reminded me of last years Cleveland Cavaliers team. LeBron James had the ball in his hands for most of the remaining five minutes, running the pick-and-roll with Chris Bosh.
At this point in the game, Bosh was being defended by Kevin Garnett, an excellent defender. My personal opinion is that James or Wade should have performed a pick-and-roll with Joel Anthony.
Anthony was being guarded by Glen Davis. Davis is a solid defender, but he doesn't defend it as well as Garnett does. James would have had an easier time getting to the rim against Davis helping on the pick than against Garnett's defense.
If James and Anthony ran the pick-and-roll, and James was able to get to the rim more easily, it forces Celtic defenders to help. If Garnett helps out, who probably would have been closest to the paint, that leaves Bosh open around the foul line where he is comfortable shooting a jump shot.
The silver-lining of the final minutes of the game was that the Heat defense gave up only six points in the final five minutes, two of which were Glen Davis free throws with six seconds remaining.
There were opportunities for the Heat to win the game down the stretch. James missed a free throw with 12.5 seconds remaining that would have tied the game, and Mike Miller missed an open three-pointer at the end of the game.
I have no doubt that Miami will make a run in the playoffs, but today's game showed two things. The first is that against the top teams, the Heat will have trouble executing their offense if they have the same game plan as today. The second is that the Celtics are still the team to beat in the Eastern Conference.
