The Miami Heat had one heck of a week this past week. That’s on multiple levels.
First off, they faced the Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks, Brooklyn Nets, and the Philadelphia 76ers, all in a six-day span. Not only did they knock off three of those four teams, but they should have knocked off all four of them, save for a few late-game mistakes and antics in Milwaukee.
Beating Chicago effortlessly, they would go up big on the Bucks before a late-game push and a few ill-advised turnovers allowed them to climb back into the contest to win it by one. They would then have a tough game against the Brooklyn Nets, though without Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons, Kevin Durant is enough of a problem to deal with.
That’s in combination with Goran Dragic, Andre Drummond, Seth Curry, LaMarcus Aldridge, and everyone else they have over there—basically, enough to beat anybody with KD leading the charge.
The Miami Heat had a tough week of games this past week but came out on top. They should have been flawless, save for a few late-game mistakes.
It’s also important to note that Jimmy Butler, P.J. Tucker, and Kyle Lowry didn’t even play in that game either for Miami, with Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro running the show.
Then, on Saturday and though without James Harden, they proceeded to beat up on Philadelphia and mainly on the defensive side.
These are all teams that are, not only, jousting for positioning in the Eastern Conference, as they all have a chance to win it, but are looked at as contenders for the whole thing as well. Again though, the Miami Heat won three of the four games and should have won the fourth.
After Saturday’s win over Philly, the Miami Heat now find themselves in first place in the NBA’s Eastern Conference, alone, with a three-game lead over the second-placed Philadelphia 76ers.
Not only did they come out during the week to make a statement with their play, as a whole, but they did so while gaining more separation in the standings. The Miami Heat are a team that should be taken seriously.
That’s the “statement”.
Without Kyle Lowry for the last several contests, might it be added, they are also looking to get Victor Oladipo back into the mix on Monday. The Miami Heat are peaking at the right time, perhaps, at least from a health and team-building aspect.
They were able to ace the test that was this past week, without being fully healthy or whole, while they have more artillery that they are about to add to the unit. So, not only did they go about making the said statement, but they actually did it with room to spare.