Hoops Habit
Fansided

How Far Can The Miami Heat Go?

By Christopher Cruz

Mar 18, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade (3) shoots the ball as Portland Trail Blazers center Robin Lopez (42) and forward Nicolas Batum (left) defend in the second half at American Airlines Arena. The Heat won 108-104. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 18, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade (3) shoots the ball as Portland Trail Blazers center Robin Lopez (42) and forward Nicolas Batum (left) defend in the second half at American Airlines Arena. The Heat won 108-104. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Miami Heat are hitting a groove that we haven’t seen this season. They are finally healthy, and Dwyane Wade looks like the player that dominated the league in the pre-LeBron James era. Having all of their pieces gives them the ability to look towards the playoffs with some realistic optimism.

I have written in the past about why the Heat shouldn’t consider tanking, and it seems as though I was right, because right now they are putting themselves in a very good position.

More from Miami Heat

First, we can start by commenting on their upcoming schedule. Right now, the Heat are 31-36 overall, and have 15 games remaining on their schedule. Of those 15 games, nine of them are against teams that have a sub-.500 record. Some of those teams include the Detroit Pistons, whom the Heat play twice, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Indiana Pacers.

These are teams that, if the Heat play as they are now, the Heat should beat.

They play six tough games, but teams they can and have beaten. A team like the Toronto Raptors, for instance, has been beaten by the Heat, and has been struggling lately. Realistically, the Heat can finish above the .500 mark, which would mark the first time this season since the very beginning of the season when they began it rather nicely.

If that happens, then the Heat would position themselves to capture the sixth seed, and would be playing the Raptors, assuming nobody else drops in the top four seeds. That is a matchup that the Heat can work with.

The Raptors are 1-1 against the Heat this season. And the Raptors, although they beat the Heat not too long ago, are still 4-10 in their last 14 games, including a stretch where the Raptors went 1-9. The Heat actually still play the Raptors on April 11, before the season ends.

But the matchups are compelling to see, especially because the Raptors don’t have a primary rim protector to stop a player like Hassan Whiteside.

They also don’t really have a defender who can truly defend Wade, who is playing his best stretch of basketball in a really long time. In the last nine games, he is averaging 27.5 points per game on 51 percent shooting, and is contributing defensively in many ways. He is averaging 2.1 steals, including a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers where he nabbed five steals.

Live Feed

NBA Trade Rumors: ESPN insider predicts Heat have best offer for Damian Lillard
NBA Trade Rumors: ESPN insider predicts Heat have best offer for Damian Lillard /

Sir Charles In Charge

  • It's time for the Blazers to accept reality with their Damian Lillard messRip City Project
  • NBA Trade Rumors: Heat, Blazers enter deadline month for Damian LillardSir Charles In Charge
  • 4 Trae Young trades the Hawks should considerFanSided
  • Miami Heat training camp preview: Thomas BryantAll U Can Heat
  • NBA Rumors: 3 Under-the-radar and impactful free agents still availableSir Charles In Charge

    • The Heat have been waiting for Wade to breakout in this fashion, allowing him to rest. But, in the way that Wade does, he takes it upon himself to put his team in positions to succeed. His team was on the way out of the playoff race before this stretch of basketball.

    The addition of Whiteside, Goran Dragic and Michael Beasley make the Heat that much scarier come playoff time. If the Heat play the Raptors, I predict an upset, which means that the Heat would then play the Cavaliers in a match up that you couldn’t write any better.

    LeBron versus Wade, a series of two legends that could come to define their careers. Wade was always a Miami guy, and James an Ohio guy.

    With Miami being up 2-1 against the Cavaliers this season, and Miami playing so well as of late, is it too crazy to believe that Miami can beat the Raptors and the Cavaliers in the postseason? A team that has Dragic, Wade, Luol Deng, a combination of Beasley or Chris Andersen and Hassan Whiteside can contend with anyone in the East.

    That is especially the case if Udonis Haslem keeps hitting three-point shots.

    Next: 50 Greatest NBA Players Of The 1970s

    More from Hoops Habit

    Home/Miami Heat