Miami Heat Roundtable: Preferred Round 1 NBA Playoff Opponent – Kenneth’s Take
The Miami Heat would beat any of the three remaining teams left in the NBA Play-In scenario. Out of the three teams, Atlanta would scare you the most.
My Take (@K_Said_Que) – Charlotte Hornets
Atlanta has the dude that has the best combination of big game kahunas and explosiveness. The ability to be explosive, scoring-wise, is important in this equation but also having that experience of doing it on that stage before.
Trae Young has done that and even though it is just a one-off, at this moment, you don’t want to be that “two-off”. When it comes to Cleveland, the matchup is just bad.
The Miami Heat were defeated by them several times during the regular year, though without the Heat having a, somewhat, full roster until the game in which Miami won back in March.
However, the way that Cleveland approaches it, slow, methodical, and with size, just isn’t the ideal scenario for Miami.
Don’t be confused, the Miami Heat would and will beat any of these three teams in a seven-game series, it’s just that these two pose the opportunity to make it more difficult than it needs to be, thus setting the Miami Heat up to be fatigued.
That leaves you with the Charlotte Hornets. And it’s pretty simple reasoning as to why they are the preferred opposition.
In four shots this season, they never once beat the Miami Heat. They couldn’t defend the Miami Heat, but then again, who could they defend this year?
Yes, they do score a ton of points, but that’s just it. They do so because of the pace with which they play.
That works in the regular season, however, the playoffs slow down, traditionally. Their style wouldn’t work there.
So, for those reasons, their record against the Heat this year, their style of play, their lack of defensive prowess, while you can’t forget their overall playoff inexperience, the preferred choice would have to be Charlotte.
Again, the Miami Heat will play and should beat whoever lines up across from them. This just seems like the path of least resistance.
After Wednesday night, we’ll be one step closer to actually knowing who it will actually be though. As far as Sunday goes, the opening game of the playoffs for the Miami Heat, it just can’t get here soon enough.