Daily NBA Fix: Are The Miami Heat Really Second Best Team In The East?

The Miami Heat are considered to be the second-best team in the Eastern Conference to start the year, but is that still true?

It may be focusing too hard on one game, but with the Miami Heat barely getting by the Memphis Grizzlies in a 100-97 victory last night and still residing in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, it had me wondering if their designation of second-best team was still valid.

The Grizzlies are a bit of a mess right now, and have been all season long. So it is a little surprising to see the Heat needing a game-winner by Dwyane Wade to finish them off.

There are four teams ahead of them in the standings, but I don’t think that really proves much, even a quarter of the way through the season. I’m not one to put too much into one or two games in the regular season, but when you look at their whole season there are a few holes in their resume.

Consider that they currently rank 11th in plus/minus according to NBA.com, behind the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers, and Detroit Pistons in the East. We know the Cavaliers are the No. 1 contender in the East, and maybe the Celtics’ success is overachieving, but even then that leaves four teams ahead of them in that statistic.

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Sure, plus/minus isn’t everything, but there are a few other teams in the East right now that are playing with more margin for error in a given game. Even when you use net rating, the Heat still fall behind the Raptors and Hornets, as well as the Cavaliers.

Their 13-9 record also seems a little less impressive when you see they’ve only had seven road games this season. The Raptors have been on the road 13 times and the Pacers 12, just for comparison. They will catch up on those road games soon enough and that may give us a better idea of how good the Heat are. The Heat have the NBA’s second ranked defense, but how well will that 19th ranked offense play on the road, especially on longer road trips?

Personally, I don’t like to try to pick out who is the top team, at least in a first, second, third sort of order. I prefer putting teams into tiers to allow for flexibility in a given moment. So right now in the East Cleveland is clearly in the top tier, but the Heat don’t have the second tier to themselves.

They currently are sharing that space with the Hornets, Raptors, Pacers, Celtics, and the Pistons are inquiring if they need another roommate. I don’t know if the Celtics will continue to pay rent, but for now they have been paying their bills on time and rank well in plenty of statistical measures of teams.

For me, it isn’t so much to say that the Heat aren’t good, or something like that, but it appears the East has drastically improved compared to last season, making us rethink exactly what the hierarchy is right now.

Westbrook Disrespects the Jazz, Hits a Buzzer Beater

Russell Westbrook was looking for somebody to give the ball to as the five-second count to inbound the ball was winding down. He also had the problem of there being 0.7 seconds left until halftime. Seeing the Utah Jazz’s Rodney Hood looking the other direction, Westbrook decided to fix the problem himself.

Yes, you can say the clock didn’t start on time and he didn’t establish himself inbounds before hitting the shot, but I don’t care because it was awesome.

The game would eventually go to overtime, where the Oklahoma City Thunder held off the Jazz for a 104-98 victory.

Knight’s 25 Powers Suns Past Timberwolves

Brandon Knight and the Phoenix Suns bounced back from a Friday night loss with a 108-101 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, putting them a game closer to eighth place in the Western Conference.

Knight had went 0-for-12 against the Portland Trail Blazers in his last game, but 25 points on Sunday helped erase that from his memory.

Next: NBA Power Rankings: Week 7

The Suns have been whiplash inducing the past few seasons, going from bad, to overachieving, back to bad, and now threatening to make the playoffs. If Brandon Knight avoids those 0-for-12 nights more often and plays like he did last night, they will be more than just a threat of making the playoffs.