The Miami Heat had a tough task coming into their building on Wednesday night. Always, somewhat, of a circus when LeBron James is in town, the Miami Heat got used to it over his four-year tenure that was the Big 3 Era.
With a different group of legacy and title hopefuls in tow at this point though, they would have to endure all the fanfare and warm tidings in preparation to do battle. Though this Los Angeles Lakers team isn’t one of the more dominant in the league this year, they still roster quite the bit of talent.
Russell Westbrook isn’t having the greatest year but is still who he is and likewise for guys like Dennis Schröder or Patrick Beverley, who can all swing games doing what it is they do. And of course, as mentioned, there is always the LeBron of it all.
The Miami Heat had a tough task on Wednesday and in one word, LeBron. The other side though, saw them string together two of their best games of the year.
Arguably the greatest player to ever lace them up in the NBA, the second greatest at the very worst, you can always be beaten when he is on the other side. And the Miami Heat came in with that mentality.
With most of their core guys going on Wednesday, outside of Kyle Lowry who would miss the game due to “personal reasons”, the Miami Heat would get good showings from them all too. Jimmy Butler would finish with 27, Bam Adebayo with 23, and Tyler Herro with 18 points on the night.
It was one of the most well-rounded offensive games, on one accord, by the Heat’s best players all year long. And in fact, to build off of their recent win against Minnesota, it was another of their best showings of the year as a team.
And it’s not about the results, as much as how they look getting it done—though that ultimately leads to these kinds of results. It’s simple too.
Whether it be on offense or defense, the Miami Heat looked decisive, intent, and on one accord. They rotated well and on time defensively, while the ball popped to the right man and spot on offense, the open man and spot.
Yes, there were times where Herro and Butler did what they do, be great individual talents, but not to the point of being a detriment or fault to the Heat. They were all in perfect symbiosis on Wednesday and that doesn’t mean perfection.
But it means that, even if they made mistakes, it was along the process of playing the game the right way. And on top of it all, spoiling one of LeBron’s many homecomings to the place that helped get him his first titles is always a great way to end a night.