NBA Playoffs 2011: 10 Reasons This Is the Miami Heat's Year To Win It All
With a win tonight at home, the Miami Heat advance to the semifinals for the first time since the 2006 season, when they won their first championship in franchise history.
A semifinals berth isn't what the Heat were looking forward to when they brought in LeBron James and Chris Bosh to play alongside Dwyane Wade a few months prior to the start of the season. Since these three joined together, the one goal every player had in mind was winning a championship. James and Bosh scorned the cities that they had played seven years for to band up in Miami for an easier shot of winning a title.
So far, the Heat haven't looked too much like a championship contender—but then again, no one really has aside from the Boston Celtics, who are coming off of a sweep of the New York Knicks. That series was the only sweep of the first round as Chicago, Miami and Oklahoma City all missed out on chances to sweep their opponents. For the Heat, they attempt to close out the seventh-seeded Philadelphia 76ers tonight back at the American Airlines Arena.
Once they get past Philadelphia, the competition really begins to pick up. Miami has a date with Boston in the semifinals barring a miracle comeback from the 76ers. The Heat finished 1-3 in the regular season against the Celtics and also finished 0-3 against Chicago. Despite being a combined 0-6 against the No. 1 and No. 3 seeds in the Eastern Conference, Miami still has the best chance of taking the title above anyone else.
This team just wasn't expected to dominate at the start of the season; they should now show that they're ready to perform at another level.
Emergence of a Defensive Lineup
1 of 10
With Erick Dampier out nursing some soreness so that he will be rested for the next series against the Boston Celtics, the team has been extremely limited at the center position. Zydrunas Ilgauskas has been starting for the Heat at center for the first time in a few months and has had a few breakout games with his 10-point and eight-rebound effort in Game 3 playing a vital role in their victory.
However, with no Dampier and Ilgauskas limited from either fatigue, foul trouble or being a defensive liability, the Heat have no answers at center. Luckily, they're taking on a Philadelphia 76ers squad that has problems at the center position as well.
Without having to worry about a significant advantage at the center position, Miami has been able to implement Joel Anthony into the lineup for defensive purposes along with Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers.
With Anthony and Chalmers in the lineup, Miami gets a significant boost on the defensive end. Aside from Game 1, Anthony has kept the Sixers top bench producer in Thaddeus Young in check by keeping him off the boards and not allowing him to find a rhythm. Chalmers has provided some resistance at the point guard spot while also giving the team some spacing in their offense, considering that he has been the most consistent point guard for Miami this series.
Against Chicago, this lineup won't be able to be run, but it could come in handy against Boston if they have yet to see Shaquille O'Neal make any process in rehabbing his injury. Their current starter in Jermaine O'Neal would be limited and Miami can take advantage by having Anthony and Chalmers in the lineup for defensive purposes.
Veteran Leadership
2 of 10
The Heat haven't seen too many obvious negatives from their series against the Philadelphia 76ers thus far from any one individual aside from point guard Mike Bibby.
When Bibby was brought to this team, he was not only expected to give the Heat some depth and consistency to a spot that usually offered little to no support to the Big Three. For most of his time during the regular season, Bibby was a reliable source of energy in the starting lineup, as he made the open three-pointers that the team has been waiting to see from their role players.
However, Mike has completely shut down for the postseason and has played downright awful basketball this series. He's shooting 22 percent from the field and only has 16 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in four games. His biggest disappointment with Miami came in Game 4 where he went 0-of-6; most of the misses were wide open and the Heat fell by four points.
Any output from Bibby and the Heat probably can look towards the second round already.
Mike is a veteran, though, and veterans learn how to work themselves out of slumps even with teammates like Wade and James expecting only the best from their supporting cast. Even with reliable options in another veteran point in Eddie House to come off the bench, Miami needs to keep working with Bibby to get him back into a rhythm so he can begin producing once again.
When Bibby isn't hitting, the Heat are limited from the perimeter. Once he comes around again—which he will—the Heat will be back in championship form.
Aggressive Chris Bosh
3 of 10
Compare Chris Bosh's efforts in Games 1 and 2 to those in Games 3 and 4 and you'll see the difference between aggression and being passivity.
Bosh was key in the Heat's first two wins of the series, as he notched 25 points and 12 rebounds in Game 1 and 21 points and 11 rebounds in Game 2. He had a quality outing in their Game 3 win with 19 points and six rebounds, but his 12 points and five rebounds in the Heat's Game-4 loss were detrimental.
Against a power forward as slow as Elton Brand, Bosh needs to make his impression felt by using his strengths to his advantage. With possible matchups against Kevin Garnett and Carlos Boozer in the near future, Bosh is going to have to get as much practice in against Brand before he takes on some of the better power forwards of the league. When he is aggressive, the Heat are a better team since they add another element to their offense.
If Bosh is motivated to win a title, then he would do whatever it takes to win it—even if it means playing out of his comfort zone. Chris sometimes relies too much on his passive play when he becomes more of a jump shooter, but he is clearly a much better player when he is driving and keeping the defense on their toes. Once he starts making shots off of a drive, defenses will eventually begin to play the lane more than his shot, allowing him more opportunities to score from the mid-range.
Bosh is the X-factor for this team the rest of the way and he's going to need to begin making his impression felt in the paint if the Heat want to win a championship.
The Return of Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller?
4 of 10
Could it be true? Could the Miami Heat's warrior finally be returning?
According to realgm.com, Udonis Haslem is expecting a postseason return. It couldn't have come at a better time either since the Heat are going to need that toughness to take on the Boston Celtics in the next round and possibly the Chicago Bulls in the conference finals.
Against a Celtics team with players like Jermaine and Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Garnett and Glen Davis, Haslem is going to be a necessity—even if he is limited in minutes after recovering from an injury that has kept him out since November.
As for Mike Miller, the Heat are going to need him.
As good as James Jones has been playing lately from the perimeter—and even finding some baskets from within the three-point line—the Heat still need the threat of another three-point shooter on the floor. It doesn't help the team when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh are on the floor and forced to play with one or two other players that can provide some sort of offense.
For Mike Miller to get into a rhythm, the Heat need to allow him to find spots on the floor that will allow him to work his way into the offense. They also need to make sure that he doesn't hesitate on his shot because once you see him hesitate, defenses will immediately realize that he is more worried about missing the shot rather than looking forward to making the shot.
Miami needs to find a way to get Miller his confidence back, while also finding a way to implement Haslem back into the rotation.
With the two players from the bench in the form that the Heat were expecting in the preseason, it makes life a lot more difficult for opposing teams.
They Know How To Beat Chicago and Boston
5 of 10
But John, Miami is a combined 1-6 against the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls! How could they possibly know how to beat these teams in the postseason if they couldn't even beat them in the regular season?
Actually, the Heat could win a series against any team if they give a full-on effort for 48 minutes. In the Heat's four games against the Celtics during the regular season, it was obvious that there was a clear difference between the first two games and the last two games.
In the first two games, Miami fell behind fast, played catch-up the rest of the way before making it a game in the fourth quarter, until the Celtics eventually pulled away.
The third game featured the Heat actually leading going into the half, but they gave up the lead after allowing a huge Celtics run in the third quarter and allowing them to pull away. The fourth game was completely different from every other game, as the Heat raced out to a quick start before eventually pulling away and winning by 23 points after losing to the Celtics on a consistent basis for two consecutive seasons.
The Bulls will be more of a problem since the Heat never officially found a way to defeat them during the regular season. However, unlike two of the Celtics games where it was over by the half, the Heat have been competitive with Chicago until the final seconds. On one occasion, they were beaten by a Kyle Korver three-pointer, the next on a Luol Deng three-pointer and then finally, by some questionable Deng free throws in the final meeting.
How many points were those three losses by? A combined eight points.
Chicago can hold the 3-0 record over Miami in the regular season, but that is an extremely close 3-0. Miami is completely capable of beating this team if they learn how to clamp down on defense in the clutch, while also making smart plays on offense.
Home-Court Advantage for the NBA Finals
6 of 10
As well as the Heat have played on the road, having home-court advantage in the postseason is key. The crowds become just as raucous and rowdy and play an even larger part in games than they did in the regular season. Playing four of seven games in a playoff series at home is one of the best advantages any team can have in the postseason, which is why obtaining that No. 2 seed was so significant to the Miami Heat.
The Heat have played better during the regular season when the crowd was against them, but when it comes to the postseason, you'd much rather have the crowd behind you.
With that No. 2 seed, the Heat wouldn't have home-court advantage in only two circumstances. Those circumstances being if the Heat take on the Chicago Bulls in the conference finals or if the Heat advance to the NBA Finals and have to take on the San Antonio Spurs. With the Spurs struggling against Memphis and facing the prospect first-round upset, chances are that the Chicago would be the only city that the Heat would have to travel to four times in a series.
If the Heat can steal a game from Chicago and win all of their games at home, they're guaranteed a spot in the NBA Finals where they will most likely hold home-court advantage—barring the San Antonio Spurs drink some secret stuff.
With the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers being the favorites to come out of the West, Miami will get home-court advantage against either team and hold the immediate edge going into the potential deciding series.
They Rid Themselves of Their Bad Habits
7 of 10
In the regular season, we heard all this talk of the Miami Heat "turning it on" for the postseason and how they would be twice the team that they were during the 2010-11 campaign.
Now that the postseason has begun, we have yet to see it and instead, we get a glimpse of the same team from the regular season. Aside from Game 2, the Heat have fallen behind by double-digits early in the game, clawed back in the second quarter and then kept the Sixers at bay until the last seconds wore off.
In Game 4, this dangerous game finally came back to bite Miami.
Philadelphia took their usual large lead at the end of the first quarter and then saw it disappear by the half. Miami then nearly got the same result at the end of the game until a few miraculous three-pointers buried the Heat and cost them a sweep. If not for the double-digit lead that the Sixers took into the second quarter, Miami could have won with ease.
The Heat keep playing this game where they allow the energy of the opposition to wear down after the first 12 minutes, when they then take over. Championship-caliber teams do not play basketball for half of the game and then have a wait-and-see method the rest of the way; if they want something, they go get it.
For the Heat, this game can be played against Philadelphia since they are forgiving, but it would never work against the likes of Boston or Chicago.
Let Game 4 serve as a reality check to the Heat because they need to take a lesson from this and deliver the knockout punch early.
Dwyane Wade
8 of 10
This wasn't the start we expected from Dwyane Wade coming into the series.
After torching the Sixers for all three games in the regular season, Wade has struggled at times to find his shot and stay on his man. After averaging 26 points on 50 percent shooting in the regular season, he is only averaging 21 points on 45 percent shooting in four games against Philadelphia. He's also averaging eight rebounds and two blocks per game, but we still expected more from Dwyane playing against a team that never had a definitive answer for him.
However, Wade has still played a part in winning the Heat games in the clutch. He hit a few free throws and a ridiculous layup with a foul late in Game 1 to give Miami a series-opening victory. It was a good sign of things to come for the Heat if they can continue to rely on Dwyane in the waning moments of games during the postseason. Wade has always seemed to shine when a postseason game is on the line and the ball in his hands.
When you have a player like Dwyane Wade on your team, it becomes a lot easier to win close games. He has lived for moments like this for the past eight years and we have seen it time and time again.
From hitting a game-winner in his first-ever playoff game to torching the Dallas Mavericks four consecutive times, it wouldn't be surprising if Dwyane can continue that trend against Boston and any other team the Heat are set to face in their quest for a title.
LeBron James
9 of 10
At 26 points, 11 rebounds and six assists per game, LeBron James has emerged as the leader of this Miami Heat team in the postseason thus far.
Even with one of the best defenders in the league in Andre Iguodala defending him, James has always found a way to score like he always does. With Wade leading the brigade late in games, LeBron has been the player to lead the Heat from the start of the game. His unpredictable offensive game has been one of the only consistencies from the Heat in this series thus far.
As much as critics like to point out James' failures in the postseason, they fail to realize that averages of 29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists over lengthy runs in the playoffs don't always mean that it's that player's fault.
In fact, James posting numbers like that is the reason why he came to Miami because it was obvious that no matter how absurd of numbers LeBron would put up, he would still need teammates that he could rely on.
Now that he has Dwyane, Chris and a few other reliable role players, James can do whatever he wants and he knows that his team can still pull out a victory. Contrary to popular belief, James has always been a fantastic player in the postseason and has already led two teams to the conference finals and one to the NBA Finals.
That team he brought to the Finals was a team where his No. 2 option was Eric Snow.
I'd say that this team now is a step up. Now that he's got the teammates, there should be nothing to stop James from obtaining his first ring.
Motivation
10 of 10
And why shouldn't LeBron James get that ring?
If he really desired what he came here for, then there shouldn't be anything to deter him from obtaining it. After being criticized as a quitter and for taking the easy way out, this is the time for James and the rest of this Heat team to show the world what they're really made of.
But by starting out the postseason the same way they played in the regular season, they have yet to make their impression felt.
However, with Boston on the brain, we could begin seeing that Miami Heat that we've been hearing so much about it. We're still all waiting to see that Heat team that only a few weeks ago handed the Celtics their worst loss of the season by 23 points. We're also still waiting on the Heat team that beat the San Antonio Spurs by 30 and the Los Angeles Lakers twice by a combined 21 points.
There is a clear difference between when this team gives a full effort and when they take teams lightly.
They have yet to give a full effort this postseason. The past four games have solely been the Heat you saw for the majority of the season.
With motivation behind them, Miami has no excuses not to go out there, beat the best and win a title. By coming to Miami, James and Bosh turned down millions of dollars and the love and admiration of their fans for a chance to win a title; now is their time to show everyone why it was the right decision.
It's either that or these three players will experience the longest offseason of their careers.
