Miami Heat: Can They Win Without Forming a Superteam Of Their Own?
By Noah Decker
Can Miami Heat Win Without A Superteam – On Historical Context
Let’s take a look at some of the superteams from the past decade, specifically analyzing how they lost in the Finals. Starting with the Miami Heat, although us Heat fans prefer to forget that this ever happened, a combination of determination from the Dallas Mavericks and lack thereof from the Heat led to the NBA Finals defeat in 2011.
The Golden State Warriors were plagued with injuries to their stars, with Kevin Durant tearing his achilles and Klay Thompson tearing his ACL. Last year, the Nets also suffered injuries, but as ESPN’s Steven A. Smith points out , there were other causes for their defeat:
"“This kind of stuff ultimately comes back to bite you. That’s what happened to the Brooklyn Nets. That is why they are home right now. If they were together…if they were committed…if they put in that work constantly day in and day out…not just as coaches but as players, you would have been more together, karma wouldn’t have been against you…”"
Health is a major concern for both of these teams, especially the Lakers. If either team is unfortunate enough to suffer injuries again next season, they would be significantly easier to beat.
However, Miami still has to do the work in order to put themselves in a winning position; no victory is ever handed out to a team. Having said that, fingers crossed that everyone stays healthy next year, it would be best for the NBA to see teams face each other at their best.
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It will probably take some luck to beat one or both of these superteams, but as history teaches us, it can be done. The Miami Heat have the mentality and the determination to win, but can they deliver against Brooklyn and LA and even when the odds are stacked against them?
Hopefully they can and though it remains to actually be seen, it’ll be so much fun watching and figuring it out.