Wade and Haslem resting tonight. I think Lebron needs to get rested for Miami to end this season. He's been out there for most of the year I think minus a game here or there. You need to keep him fresh too
You can see that switch the Heat turn on and off. Compare this game to how they handled the Knicks until the 4th. There is definitely a switch with them
Ideally we need the Bulls to get past the Raptors. That will allow both the Nets and Bulls to be playing the second round.
Awesome block by Plumlee. 50/50 call but the refs were giving a ton of contact all 4th Q so that was consistent. For the Heat, nothing to worry about. Rashard Lewis won't be leading a fast break in crunch time with their full lineup. The problem for them I guess is that they go to Memphis tomorrow which is tough then play Indy on Friday. Can't let IND reclaim the 1 seed they stole in the final part of the season.
Don't think the Heat have the team anymore to win another championship. They are not getting great bench play and with Wade constantly injured, they are gonna be in trouble come playoff time.
The Heat can still win it but they are not ahead of the league as they were last year (and even last year they shouldn't have won). I believe right now there are 5-6 teams that can beat Miami in a playoff series. (SAS, OKC, LAC, BKN, CHI, IND)
Ive said this earlier, the Heat remind me of the 2011 Lakers who got swept by the Mavs. Lakers lead all year, were considered the favorites, were the #2 seed, were going for the 4th straight finals appearance, and out of nowhere the Mavs swept em. I could see the Nets doing the EXACT same thing, maybe not a sweep, but beat them in 5 or 6. (I cant see the Champs going down in a sweep)
Agree they are not ahead of the league, but I just don't think they have the team to do it again this year. In the last two years, they had the bench play any team could dream of having. When LeBron sat down, he came back in with a lead or no loss of ground. He's coming back in now having to work his ass off to get the lead back. That will come back to bite them when they play some of these teams in the playoffs. I think this is San Antonio's year. They are playing an almost perfect game of basketball.
I hope so. Last year is like a permanent scar but if they win it this year it would help the healing process.
Ehh I think the only similarity between 2010-2011 Lakers and Heat are they are going for a 4th straight finals. The Lakers tied with the Mavs in the regular season. The Lakers also were on a streak where they ripped through the NBA, I think something like 20-1 before dropping I think 5 straight in April and heading into the playoffs with like a 2-5 April record. The Heat really haven't ripped off that streak at all. Miami's just slowly chugged along resting players due to injury and what not. Lakers ripped off a streak where everyone thought they were future champs then rippoed of a streak where everyone hurriedly started to back off that and panic. The Heat have just been moving along, slow and steady. I do agree Miami isn't far ahead of the league, but they weren't far ahead last year either. To use cliches, it is still their finals to lose because they are 2x defending champs.
Yeah it would. Nothing hurt more than watching them line the court for the Spurs to celebrate and then watch it walk away from them. I hate the fuckin Heat franchise, and to see that, it made me fuckin despise them more than anything in this world. It would be awesome to see them get eliminated.
The Heat had another gear though, they have not shown it at all this year. They also put together a 27 game win streak last season. This years team would not touch that at all, even if they tried.
Uh sure? That's what I mean though, they really aren't similar to the 2010-2011 Lakers in the regular season. The Lakers hit that gear and everyone thought here we go, then they had a brutal final 7 games to the season where the panic was on. The Heat never showed that gear consistently for a few reasons, but that's why they don't remind me of the 2010-2011 Lakers. Their season has been really different outside the fact they are chasing the 4th finals appearance in a row. That's the only tie in my eyes, nothing else really. I mean if that's how you are linking them sure, that's definitely a connection. But I don't see a connection outside of that.
