NBA Preview: Birdman fo' President
The Miami Heat are coming off one of greatest seasons in NBA history. They went 66-16 and won their second straight Finals. During that 66 win season they had a 27 game win streak, good enough for second best all-time, and only lost back-to-back three times. The Heat never lost back-to-back games in the playoffs. Their series against the Spurs was one for the ages. It went seven games and game six was one of the best games ever. Ray Allen ripped the heart out of the Spurs with the last second corner 3 to send it into OT.
This season they have a target on their back. Every time they step on the court they are going get the opponents best effort. Even the teams that are Riggin’ for Wiggins want to beat them. Last season when they won 27 straight each game was treated as a playoff game. When they finally lost to the Bulls you could tell each player was physically and emotionally drained. Don’t expect Erik Spoelstra to give the starters, specifically Dwyane Wade, those kind of minutes again. All they care about this year is winning another championship so they will rest Wade as needed to protect his knees.
They lost Mike Miller this offseason, who has proven himself time and time again in the playoffs the past two seasons. I didn’t think Miller would be back last year after he basically crawled off the court after they defeated the Thunder. His three point shooting will be missed but they will be just fine without him. The Heat still have Birdman, who proved to be a valuable piece, and signed Michael Beasley and Greg Oden. If Beasley can get his act together he will be a great bench player. Oden is the question mark. Can he stay healthy? Oden is 25 but has the knees of a 55 year old. He will probably play sparingly during the regular season and if he stays healthy the Heat will need is size in the playoffs.
Dwyane Wade’s knees might be falling apart and this might be Ray Allen's last season, but the Heat also have the best player in the world, Lebron James. Lebron has answered all his critics. He now has two titles and two Finals MVP’s. He can and has won the big one. In Game 7 last year, Lebron scored 37, had 12 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. Not to mention he was 8-8 from the free throw line and shot 50% from three. Lebron is the best player alive and no one can argue. Last year he averaged 26.8 points per game, shot 56.5% from the floor, and 40.6 from three. He lead the lead in points and FG% near the basket last year. Kirk Goldsberry’s graphic shots he is nearly unstoppable around the basket. He is an average free throw shooter, 75% for his career, but brings so many other things to the table. He is one of the best passers in the game, with 7.3 rebounds per game last year. This year expect nothing less than perfection from James. He has one thing one his mind. Winning another title.
There are rumors flying around about how much space the Cavs have to take a run at Lebron in 2014 free agency. What a great story that would be. “Lebron comes back home to lead the Cavaliers to a Title.” Even if the Heat don’t win the title this year it’s not going to happen. Why would he want to go to a place that burned his jersey when he decided to change teams. They didn’t help him out at all, it was a one-man team. And besides now he gets to live in South Beach, a place that’s warm all year round. Cleveland, from what I can tell is usually cold and a terrible sports town. When was the last time they won a championship in any sport?