The Miami Heat have to prove they are the division favorites this season.
Two years ago, the Miami Heat were at the mercy of divine intervention.
Whereas teams at either end of the playoff seeding can usually coast through the end of the regular season, the Heat were in a thicket of a playoff race.
Leading into the final day of the 2015-16 NBA season, four teams in the Eastern Conference, three of which were in the Southeast Division, had 47 or 48 wins. And fortune would have it that two of those teams – the Heat and Boston Celtics – played as all four clawed for a higher playoff seed.
The teams in question were the Heat, Celtics, Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Hornets. Though none of these four were in any shape to lay claim to a Finals Run – no, that was reserved for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers – these bottlenecked teams fought for first round home court advantage.
An extra game at home in the playoffs is not a guaranteed recipe for success, at least not from the third seed and below. But having a home crowd for a contentious Game 5 or 7, is a morale boost that can funnel into future success.
Thus, April 13, 2016, the final day of the regular season, played out like a preschool game of Chutes and Ladders. The Heat lose to the Celtics and the Hawks lose to the Washington Wizards, but not before the Hornets outpace the Orlando Magic.
Now, the Heat could have won against the Celtics, but Boston’s season lead over Charlotte meant a Miami win would birth a challenging first round series against the Celtics. But even that result was contingent on how the Hawks and Hornets finished, since a win from both would push the Heat down to sixth.
Confused yet?
Whether intentional or not, Miami only managed a five-point third quarter against the Celtics that game. Questions swirled about the Heat’s intentions, but Miami’s 10-point loss was rewarded with the third seed and first round home court advantage.
However, Miami’s lucky finish was and is emblematic of one of the team’s biggest hurdles. The Heat have yet to emerge as the clear favorites in the Southeast, instead competing for relevance in bottom half of the Eastern Conference.
Despite its relative success – Miami has more NBA titles than the rest of the division combined – the Heat have been unable to fortify the division as a stronghold. The Southeast is young. Three of its five teams (the Heat, Magic and Hornets) only recently came to life as expansions of the NBA’s growth in the late 1980s.
Miami added team president Pat Riley in the 1990s, an early move to differentiate the new organizations. Riley had a storied career with the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers, and brought a level of glitz and talent to the already flashy South Beach.
But in recent years, Miami has regressed. Trading in the Tesla for a family friendly Prius is synonymous with Miami’s current roster affliction.
The Heat’s lack of a superstar is a trait known ubiquitously throughout the league, and its inability to woo one of Kevin Durant or Gordon Hayward in the last couple years, charted a course to relative mediocrity.
Even though wins come as difficult to the Hornets and Wizards as they do to the Heat, the former two teams have latched onto key players, locking down a foundation from which to build.
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Kemba Walker, John Wall and Bradley Beal have each transcended into the basketball heavens.
If their talent proves incapable of lifting their respective teams to the promise land, their name recognition alone can help entice their NBA colleagues to give their teams a chance.
Unfortunately, Miami’s dearth of commanding names has produced a void of attractive talent, while limiting future funds to attract potential co-stars.
Still, there is a light at the end of this tunnel, and it’s not the iridescent flare of Miami burning piles of money.
Among Southeast teams, and more generally the entire NBA, Miami prides itself on high-quality team chemistry, a feature that should be leaned on to form Miami’s next successful team.
Where the rest of the division underwent major changes with coaches, draft picks and trades, Miami stayed its course.
In the short term, this limits the team as a financially viable destination for free agents, but brandishes the organization’s loyalty, an attribute that can swing players in Miami’s favor.
It’s only a matter of time before the first reports of a locker room fiasco between Kelly Oubre Jr., John Wall and Dwight Howard. Headlines will certainly break around Walker and his future with the Hornets, or Jeremy Lin wanting out of Atlanta’s youth movement.
Thus, Miami’s needs to thrive on that dysfunction this season. The team chemistry has proved useful in bursts, capable of channeling each player’s talents into a forward push, as was the case in the 30-11 season finish in 2017 (yes, let’s revisit that again).
The Heat have an intimate understanding of success.
2018-19 presents Miami with a window of opportunity to revisit past accomplishments, while crushing an ill-prepared Southeast division on its trek to the top.