A Case for Miami

The current talk is of Dwayne Wade’s chances of taking the MVP crown late from LeBron James, and while that would be nice, both players have honestly played at the same high level all year long, and though he does have better players around him, LeBron’s Cavs have the better record. Let’s be honest, whoever wins the MVP this year, LeBron, Wade, or Bryant, it won’t be a bad selection (*cough* Nash *cough*). What I’m more interested in is whether or not Miami should be talked about as the best Dark Horse in these upcoming playoffs.

My case begins with one simple fact, Dwayne Wade. LeBron and the Cavs did it…well what few Cavs there were, and we’ve already established this season that Wade is just as good as LeBron, and just as able to shoulder the burden of an entire team when given a chance to do so. The Heat always have a chance to win a game with Dwayne in the lineup. The man can take over a game so completely that opposing fans just sit and stare in awe at what he can do. You need a rebound, he’s one of the better rebounding guards. How about an assist or two? He’s not only the leading shooting guard at 7.5 per game, he’s also 8th overall on the list. How about some defense? He’s second overall in steals per game, and leads all guards with 1.38 blocks per game, which happens to place him 16th overall in the league, a hair behind Joakim Noah, Shaq, and Josh Smith. Oh, and he shoots near 50%, has brought his 3-point shooting to over 30%, and leads the league in scoring with nearly 30 points per game. Basically, anything you need this man to do, he not only could do it, he usually does.

Second, and equally as important, Miami, though mostly Dwayne Wade, plays big. Only three teams have at least one victory against each of the undisputed top four teams in the league (Cleveland, Lakers, Boston, and Orlando), Detroit, Orlando and Miami. The only lopsided point differential came against Orlando, in a 122-99 decision (oddly enough where Dwayne started his tear of the NBA with a 50 point game). Honestly the game was a lot closer than the final score depicted, despite Wade being the only scoring option for the Heat. How can you not win by at least 20 points when you go 51% from 3-point land, making 17 overall? That’s an extra 17 points right there.

Though I could wish that the NBA, just for this year, could have an NCAA tourney style playoff system, one and done, so that the Heat could Cinderella their way through the tournament, I’m happy enough knowing these facts. We need to finish strong, keep either the fourth or fifth seed. I won’t say that we’ll “handle” Atlanta, but we certainly could win that series. Past that would be Cleveland. Luckily for the Heat, they only match up badly against Orlando, who will need to go through Boston. Honestly, people are looking forward to the Boston-Cleveland series, but my eyes are gonna be glued to the Boston-Orlando series, a much tougher match to call since both have great interior presence, good defense, and tons of scoring options. Miami doesn’t exactly match up well with Cleveland, but we stand a much better chance of stealing a series from them. The Heat are 1-3 against Cleveland this year, but all of the games have been within reach. The first loss was a 93-86 late game letdown, where the Heat were outscored 35-19 in the fourth in order for Cleveland to make the comeback. The second loss was another late game comeback for Cleveland, this time outscoring us 31-18 in the fourth for a 107-100 win. The last loss was a 99-89 game, and Mo Williams really hurt us. Clearly depth was in issue those first two games, as they were both fourth quarter collapses, and in both games we went into the fourth quarter with a good lead, the last game was a plain and simple loss, where Mo really just had out number, and Cleveland played incredible defense.

If, by some miracle, we make it to the finals, and we happen to meet the Lakers, I’m totally calling the upset. In their two games this season, split, the total margin of victory was 5 points, two in Miami’s victory, three in LA’s. Seemingly out matched, Miami has played at the Lakers level in both meetings, and if a prayer is answered, meeting them in the Finals could possibly be the best thing for us. Yes, most of this is wishful thinking, but look at it honestly and without bias. Of all the teams heading into the playoffs, who has a better chance to upset the whole thing? Detroit has pretty much melted down, nobody in the West seems to want to be second best and challenge LA for the West title, and nobody else has a player of Dwayne Wade’s caliber besides Cleveland and LA. Of all the teams not in the top four, they have the best chance to crash the party.

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