NBA

They say a series doesn’t start until a team wins a game on the road. Well, the Heat did that on Sunday night, but it feels like this opening series with the Atlanta Hawks is virtually over now that the Heat have ended Atlanta’s home winning streak. After a tough 1-point loss on Friday night in game 3, the Heat responded in a major way and absolutely crushed Ice Trae and the Hawks in game 4. There was no tipoff delay for a suspicious package this time and the Heat fans were loud and proud at State Farm Arena. Those Heat fans seemed to get even louder as the hush of dejection settled over the Hawks fans in the 2nd half. The Heat defense proved to be too much and it’s clear that Jimmy Butler is the best player in this series, not Trae Young.

The proclamations and reports of Jimmy Butler’s demise in Miami were greatly exaggerated. All is well in Miami and Jimmy Butler is every bit the playoff assassin that we remember from the bubble! The national media has been slow and sometimes downright resistant to giving the Miami Heat their due, but now it feels like Jimmy and the Heat are slowly forcing everyone to take account of what we here in Heat nation have known all along: this team earned the #1 seed in the East and are a legit championship contender.

Now we wait. The Miami Heat pulled off the #1 seed in the East and did with 2 games to spare. This is an accomplishment that most prognosticators were not predicting to occur because they felt this team was too old and didn’t have enough quality depth to successfully navigate the protracted grind that is the NBA regular season. The Heat also finished tied for the 3rd best record in the entire NBA, but due to a tiebreaker of head-to-head losses to the Warriors, the Heat would likely not have homecourt advantage in the NBA Finals should they make it because the top 3 seeds in the West all had better seasons over Miami.

I know, I know…..It was the Rockets! I know that we must look at everything through that perspective, but man what a great night it was for the Miami Heat as they welcomed the return of Victor Oladipo to the hardwood on Monday night. It felt like a major event day Monday in Miami, even though it was just the lowly Rockets coming to town for an early March regular season matchup. Heat fans all over social media, sports talk radio, and in these hot Dade County streets were buzzing all day about how many minutes Vic would play and how good he would look in game action. The leaks coming from Dipo’s teammates in advance of the game were rave reviews and now we know why. Oladipo looked quick, strong, explosive, and sharp in his limited opportunities!

Honestly, I was a little nervous coming into this week. This is the week that I circled and referred to as “hell week” when I saw the teams and matchups that the Heat would have to go through. At Chicago, at Milwaukee, at Brooklyn, and then home against the surging 76ers. It was definitely a gauntlet to say the least. A true test to measure what standards the Miami Heat were able to hold and how high their potential ceiling could be in the post season. The Heat did more than survive hell week, they thrived in it. They burned it up and passed the tests with flying colors.

The Miami Heat have been snake bitten by numerous injuries to their roster but nevertheless they have persisted. These injuries have caused their team MVP Jimmy Butler, their defensive anchor Bam Adebayo, and numerous key rotational players to miss lots of game time. The Heatles also had a multitude of players that missed many games due to being in the COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Pair the thin roster situation with a tough beginning of the season schedule that also featured the most road games in the NBA and it would have been understandable if the Heat would have gone into a bit of a malaise of losses. That has not been the case and it is a true testament to the mantra of this organization, the makeup of this team, and the leadership of their maestro Erik Spoelstra.

It’s early but the Miami Heat have been really good in their first 6 games. Scary good. The types of numbers they are putting up

As I watched the NBA tipoff on Tuesday night I watched closely as the Milwaukee Bucks received their championship rings. I couldn’t help but think