The Miami Heat have won two of their last three games. That may not mean much when you look at their record, but it means something for their team. As I have previously noted, this team has had a tough time keeping their team together.
Dwyane Wade was injured for seven games early in the year, Chris Bosh was injured for seven games afterwards and Chris Andersen was injured earlier in the year. For the first 30 games, it was hard to tell who was going to be in each game.
But finally, Miami has begun to regain a bit of a stride that it had lost due to all these injuries. The Heat defeated the Brooklyn Nets and then lost to the Portland Trail Blazers.
A quick note on the Trail Blazers game: if you were one of the people who watched that game, you know that Miami dominated the first half. With Hassan Whiteside playing his brutish style of basketball, the bigs of Portland were outmatched physically by Whiteside, and couldn’t guard Bosh or Wade.
Then the second half happened, and Whiteside barely played.
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The Heat moved on from that and beat the Los Angeles Clippers, a team that joins the other nine or ten teams that are fighting for playoff position in the Western Conference. But it is a team that includes Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. Miami was able to beat them thanks to the enormous play of Whiteside, who is turning out to be a genius pick-up for Miami, Bosh and Wade.
There is definitely something in Miami that feels different now. They aren’t the weaklings that are going into games and barely scoring 85. With the offensive and defensive threat that Whiteside brings to the table, Miami seems to be forming a trinity that can pull the team out from the mire that they’ve been stuck in.
I’m not saying that Whiteside could ever replace what Miami had during the real “big three” era, but he definitely gives them a punch out of nowhere that they didn’t have. Miami now has the ability to play big against bigger teams, the Achilles heel to any Eastern Conference team. The West generally beats the East because they are bigger, not because they are smaller.
Teams like the Golden State Warriors can get away with putting Andrew Bogut in the middle while playing Draymond Green at the power forward position because Bogut is able to clean up the glass and defend at an elite level.
Miami didn’t have that before Whiteside got there, and it has killed them. Bosh has had to play in the middle, not giving him the freedom to roam around because nobody else was going to be able to pick up offensive boards for them. Bosh and Danny Granger, Luol Deng, or Shawne Williams would have to play at the four position, leaving them vulnerable on defense and rebounding.
When Andersen came back, he was able to fill the gap that had been left, but he is not a player that can play 30 minutes per game, unfortunately. He is also relatively small for a center. He is a playmaker on the defensive end, and a hustler, but not a player that can play starter minutes.
Now as Miami looks forward, the schedule remains a bit difficult right before a stretch when the schedule lightens up. Miami has played the Los Angeles Lakers tonight, but will play the Golden State Warriors, the Sacramento Kings and the Oklahoma City Thunder for the next three.
However, Miami has proved that they are able to play up to competition, and now with their additions will provide even more firepower. After these three teams they have some lower level competition that they will have to resist the urge to play down to.
The Miami Heat have their own fate in their hands, and can push the envelope by getting back to .500. The fifth-place team in the Eastern Conference right now is the Milwaukee Bucks, who are just a game over .500. Getting over that hump will allow Miami to push themselves up the rankings and make a push for better playoff position.
If all goes well, if Deng is able to step up his play, then this Miami team can make some real noise in the East. This team may be the dark horse going into the playoffs.