The Miami Heat are a “wild card” and possible dark horse in the Eastern Conference, according to a new report from Bleacher Report.
Over the last decade, roughly since LeBron James’s 2014 free agency departure, the media has been reluctant to give praise of the Miami Heat. In their defense, it is understandable to step away from the spotlight as a marquee team to cover with James out of the picture. But even so, this Heat franchise has respectfully always remained competitive ever since.
From 2014-2019, Miami was a team that really started to establish that infamous “Heat Culture”. They always played hard, were well coached and played defensive minded. Although, outside of the 2015-16 season, they were never able to make it further than the first round of the playoffs.
After Jimmy Butler moved to South Beach, everything changed. The Heat quickly disproved the criticism from the media after he joined by making it to the NBA Finals in his first season. They would ultimately make it to another, and they were just a few seconds away from making their third visit on that platform.
Bleacher Report recently pointed out that the Heat would be a safe bet to surprise everyone in the NBA once more coming into the new season, given their evident success under Butler:
“These men have a track record of defeating every opponent in a postseason series by finding a way to overcome the odds. Choosing them to exceed expectations has always been a smart choice.
Regarding this Heat build around Butler and Bam Adebayo, there is a lot of evidence to support a claim like this. They have defeated the Boston Celtics twice, Milwaukee Bucks twice, New York Knicks once, and Philadelphia 76ers twice over the years. They even forced a James-led Los Angeles Lakers team to play six games in the 2020 bubble Finals without Adebayo and Goran Dragic, who were injured at the time.
Miami was ranked fifth and eighth going into some of these great performances and upset wins in the playoffs. Butler’s ability to turn things on and win his teammates over has proven to be an uncommon but effective leadership style. Ultimately, as demonstrated by the Lakers series, the Heat have faced health challenges throughout the years.
Following season-ending injuries to Terry Rozier and Butler last season, another run of outstanding play was not in the cards. Now, this core will have one more chance, perhaps with health on their side, to once more shatter the hearts of their fiercest opponents.
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