The Miami Heat are out of the playoffs. The run is over, not that it was ever much of one.
The Miami Heat are done and just as quickly as they started. And this was not some battle.
This wasn’t some epic clash that grips the soul and pushes you to the edge of your seat. No, my friends, this was a playoff sweep.
The Milwaukee Bucks unceremoniously shuffled the Heat out of contention quickly and easily. Akin to getting forced out of a bar before the customary closing time, the 2021 season ends with the thick taste of dissatisfaction.
One week ago and after a tight loss in overtime, the outlook was still bright. We said some wild things when you think back.
The Miami Heat were swept from the NBA Playoffs in the First-Round and only one word describes the feeling: PAIN.
“This Miami squad can hang with this new look Bucks team.” “If Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo can no-show and the result is a last-second OT loss, this will be a hotly contested series”.
That was all of us. Sure there are problems, but the issues were centered around the two hardest workers on the team.
Goran Dragic and Duncan Robinson looked great, the defense was sound, and the efficient shooting helped balance out the rebounding deficit. This was going to be a hotly contested fight to the finish.
You could book your game seven tickets then! Then, it all went up in a hungry blaze.
The following three games were rough, three losses that came in a crushing fashion and by margins of 34, 29 and 17. The glaring problems drowned out all of the encouraging pieces of Game 1 that quickly went from fixable to unsolvable for the Miami Heat.
In one game, a series between two equals slipped into a lopsided affair. A heavyweight bout faded into the video of the MMA fighter beating the breaks off the Oklahoma receiver in the bar bathroom.
Hindsight makes the promise of competition seem to be a fool’s rationale. That Game 1 was the ultimate beer goggles of sporting events.
Now, an offseason loaded with question marks and a sound beating from a vastly superior opponent is all that Miami has left of the 2020-2021 season. Thanks for playing; you’ve crapped out at the tables.
There won’t be any line of credit for you and security will rough you up at the door. Thanks for playing though!