Miami Heat Face Long Odds in NBA Finals
The Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. There was no surprise in the Western Conference in the NBA, we all knew, deep down, that one of the LA teams would make it to the finals, and in the end, the big favorite made it through, LeBron James’ Lakers are back in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010.
However, things in the East turned out a lot different than expected, Milwaukee Bucks was the one we all expected to see fighting for the trophy, if not, probably the Raptors, maybe the Celtics or 76ers, right? Well… Surprise! It was #5 seed Miami Heat is the one who managed to stay alive and will now try to make history against one of the biggest teams in NBA history.
Being #5 seed in the East is not even the biggest piece in this story, but the fact that the Heat didn’t even make it to the playoffs last year, but now they’re showing us true championship level basketball, and deserve the ring just as much as their opponent.
In fact, it deserves to be mentioned as well, that the Lakers didn’t even make the playoffs either last year, so, for the first time ever, we’re about to watch an NBA Finals where neither of the teams was a title contender the year before.
Miami Heat’s 2020 season in numbers
The Miami Heat has been in the playoffs a total of 21 times and has won the NBA title 3 times, led by Dwyane Wade in all 3 of them, along with Shaquille O’Neal the first time, and then with LeBron James and Chris Bosh in the other two, before James decided to go back to Cleveland.
After that team was broken, things were just not the same for the Heat, the team went through many ups and downs, Wade left and came back, Pat Riley tried to build a good base, Erik Spoelstra remained as the team’s head coach until now, finishing his 12th season now, but things were not easy for the Heat. The team made the playoffs twice since their last championship, but not with a real chance to make it to the Finals.
The story wasn’t too different this time around, the Heat got the fifth spot in the East with a 44-29 record, way behind the two best teams in the conference, the Bucks and the Raptors. The team wasn’t favorite to win any of their series, against the Pacers, Bucks or Celtics, but the results were there, and led by Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and rookie Tyler Herro, the Heat are now ready to go for another 4 wins against the Lakers.
Miami averages 112.0 points per game this season so far, on 46.8% FG and 37.9% 3P, while opponents have averaged 109.1 points per game. Jimmy Butler is the team’s scoring leader with 19.9 points per game, followed by another veteran, Goran Dragic, with 16.2 points per game. Next is Bam Adebayo, 3rd in scoring with 15.9 points but also leading rebounder, with 10.2 rebounds per game.
Do you think the Heat has enough material and talent to beat LeBron and the Lakers? We’re about to see!
