NBA Playoffs 2011: Miami Heat Are Built to Beat the Los Angeles Lakers
Last night's victory does not mean that the Miami Heat are back.
This one win over the Los Angeles Lakers does not erase the five straight losses against fellow NBA contenders. Sweeping the Lakers for the season is impressive, but it does not cover up their struggles against Boston, Chicago and Dallas.
What it does show, is if the Heat are able to play the Lakers in a seven game series, Miami can be victorious.
The Lakers Lack a Transcendent Point Guard
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The top of the Eastern Conference has point guards like Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, Jameer Nelson and Chauncey Billups.
To combat those names with Mario Chalmers and Mike Bibby is almost comical.
However, Derek Fisher and Steve Blake do not have much of an edge over Miami's point guards.
What this means, is the Lakers are not able to capitalize on one of Miami's most glaring weaknesses. Look at what the opposing teams' point guards did to Miami in the five losses before last night.
Chauncey Billups: 16 points, two assists
Jameer Nelson: 16 points, seven assists
Tony Parker: 15 points, eight assists (George Hill 11 points, four assists off the bench)
Derrick Rose-:27 points, five assists
Andre Miller: 14 points, five assists
Last night Derek Fisher and Steve Blake: Eight points, five assists
The lack of strong point guard play will put all the pressure on Kobe Bryant to create the offense.
LeBron James Can Double-Team on Kobe Bryant Due to Ron Artest's Lack of Offense
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Kobe Bryant may be the best player in the NBA, but that does not mean he can score at will against Dwyane Wade.
It definitely does not mean he can score easily when it's both Wade and LeBron James guarding him.
Ron Artest actually had a good stat-line last night. Nine points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals is the type of production the Lakers need from their defensive specialist.
Artest also held LeBron James under 20 points. The Lakers know they can rely on Artest's defense and without him, they would not have won the title last year or be in the hunt for one this year.
However, LeBron James does not have to exert himself defensively on Artest the way he will on Paul Pierce and/or Carmelo Anthony.
Since Artest is not a threat from the outside, James was able to leave Artest several times and double-team Bryant.
If you're an opposing team's coach, you would much rather have Artest shoot an uncontested three than have Kobe Bryant shooting one from three feet behind-the-arc, covered by a defender.
Los Angeles Lakers Can Not Run with the Miami Heat
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The Los Angeles Lakers do not want to get into a track meet with any of the younger teams in the NBA.
For the same reason Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant exposed the Lakers' age in last year's playoffs, so too can the Miami Heat.
The play last night that best exemplified this was Dwyane Wade's steal on Kobe Bryant followed by LeBron James racing down the court with Usain Bolt-like-speed for the dunk. If the Heat turn the seven game series into a track meet, the Lakers will not be able to keep up.
Half-court teams like the Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic are at a disadvantage against the Lakers, because no team has a better half-court player than Kobe Bryant. Trying to stop Kobe, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, in a half-court set, is far too difficult. Teams that get out and run like Oklahoma City, Dallas and Miami have the best shot against the Lakers.
Andrew Bynum Is No Dwight Howard
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The Miami Heat big men are at a severe disadvantage against Dwight Howard.
It's crazy to think that throwing Eric Dampier, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Juwan Howard and Joel Anthony at Dwight Howard, for seven games, will prove to be at all effective.
The difference between Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum is Howard will expose this weakness for 30 points and 15 rebounds a night whereas Bynum will only give the Lakers around 15 points and 12 rebounds, on a good night.
Bynum's stat-line last night of 13 points and 12 rebounds is good production, but it isn't enough to make Miami run out and sign a defensive minded center in the off-season.
Los Angeles Lakers Have Less Depth in the Front Court Than Miami
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It is hard to believe that any team in the NBA could have less depth in the front-court than Miami. Unfortunately, for Lakers fans, their team challenges Miami for this unwanted crown.
Lamar Odom has been one of the best sixth men in the league for the last several years. Problem is, he's not really a post-player. Odom plays more of a small forward-power forward game which does not allow the Lakers to pound the ball into the post and expose Miami's weak front-line.
Say Andrew Bynum gets injured again or Pau Gasol gets into foul trouble. The Lakers would have to call upon Derrick Caracter or shift Ron Artest over to the power forward position to maintain some type of post-presence.
With LeBron James and Dwyane Wade getting to the basket as much as they do, often drawing fouls, the Lakers front-court depth will be heavily tested.
Miami Heat Have the Closest Shooting Guard to Kobe Bryant in the League
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Twenty-eight other teams in the NBA do not possess a shooting guard who can at all be compared to Kobe Bryant.
That list does not include the Miami Heat.
Dwyane Wade is not equal to Kobe Bryant. He does not have nearly the same outside shooting ability and can not create a shot with as little space as Bryant. What Wade can do is score just as many points, effectively get to the rim and apply aggressive man-to-man defense on the five-time NBA champion.
Most teams look at Kobe Bryant and say, "Oh well, we'll just try and shut down everyone else."
The Miami Heat, on the other hand, are able to challenge Kobe with a super-star of their own.
Pau Gasol Is Not a Lockdown Defender
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Chris Bosh scored 24 points last night.
That is not going to happen in the playoffs against Kevin Garnett, but could very well happen numerous times against Pau Gasol.
Gasol is not a lock-down defender. He does not get overly aggressive and is better suited guarding a traditional post-up player than a mid-range jump-shooter like Chris Bosh.
Do not be deceived by last night's performance. Chris Bosh is not an elite big man in this league. Before last night, he was coming off a seven point, four rebound performance against Portland.
The Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics have answers for Chris Bosh. The Lakers do not.
Miami Has Proven They Can Beat the Lakers
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They beat the Lakers in Los Angeles on Christmas Day and won again in Miami last night.
It is hard to have confidence that the Miami Heat could win a seven game series against the Boston Celtics or Chicago Bulls since they are a combined 0-6 against those two teams on the season. The Lakers are a different story. The Heat know that they can beat them.
There is a reason Kobe Bryant stuck around for an hour-and-a-half after the game taking shots in the Miami gym. He understands that Miami is a real threat to his team.
The fact that Miami knows they can beat Los Angeles and has the Lakers on the defensive trying to figure out how they can beat the Heat, provides a huge advantage if these two teams were to meet again.
Miami Heat Have a Closer If They Choose to Use Him
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Dwyane Wade showed in the 2006 NBA Finals that he can close out games just as effectively as Kobe Bryant. Now, in 2011, Wade still has that ability.
Last night, the Heat put the ball in Wade's hands down the stretch rather than LeBron James. This is by all means the right decision.
James has become predictable in the closing seconds. Teams know he prefers to go to his right and adjust their defenses to force him left. Unlike Wade, James simply barrels his way forward toward the rim trying to muscle his way to two points. Wade, on the other hand, can more effectively finish on both sides, he draws more fouls and forces defenders to respect his step-back jumper.
Also, by having Wade attack the basket, you are clearing up space in the lane. When LeBron James attacks the rim, he's usually bringing a 6'7"/6'8" defender with him. This clogs up space far more than a 6'5"/6'6" guy that's guarding Wade.
When playing the Lakers, the Heat should always send James to set the screen on Kobe, as they did at the end of the game last night. This gives Wade that first initial step and allows their closer to decide the game.
Kobe Bryant Will Try and One-Up the Heat Stars
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We saw it last night in the last couple minutes of the game. Kobe Bryant was trying to win the contest all by himself.
When it's Lakers vs. Celtics, Kobe gets caught up in the rivalry and it becomes his team versus the Big Four. With Miami, it becomes Kobe trying to prove he's still the best player in the NBA.
This is not good for the Lakers.
Even if Bryant wins the one-on-one battle with Wade, the Heat still have LeBron James and Chris Bosh to do their damage. The Lakers are at their best when Kobe gets his other guys involved and last night he forgot about Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum down the stretch.
Gasol had 20 points and Bynum had 13, but Kobe did not get them the ball enough in the fourth to let them continue to expose Miami's lack of bigs. Bryant has proven he can hit tough, heavily contested shots, but when you have the advantage in the post, go with the easier option.
Kobe Bryant can win two games in a series by himself. He needs the rest of his teammates to help him grab the other two.
Why It Might Not Even Matter
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The Miami Heat have no answer for Dwight Howard. They have no point guard to contain Derrick Rose or Rajon Rondo, and they have no answer for Amare Stoudemire.
The Heat may be designed well to beat the Lakers, but they are not exactly built to get out of the Eastern Conference.
If the season were to end today, the Heat would have to play the New York Knicks in the first round. Landry Fields's size creates problems for Dwyane Wade and was the main reason why Wade only had 12 points in their last meeting. Carmelo Anthony can go point-for-point with LeBron James and I will take Amare Stoudemire over Chris Bosh every time. The Chauncey Billups/Toney Douglas tandem will expose the Heat's weakness at point guard and New York's lack of a center will not matter against Eric Dampier.
If they get past the Knicks, teams like Chicago, Boston and Orlando await them in the next rounds. These teams all either have answers where Miami is strong where Miami is weak.
On the flip-side, the Lakers are going to have just as hard of a time getting through the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs in order to reach their fourth straight NBA Finals.
This is how good the NBA is this season. A team with Kobe Bryant as well as a team with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade may not even make it to the NBA Finals to duke it out.
