The regular season is heading downhill and the postseason is right around the corner. With plenty of headlines, the Miami Heat have flipped the switch after a incongruent first half of the season and appear to be heading into a positive direction.
When all hope was lost just after the All-Star break, the Heat not only found a way to restore their season but play their best basketball in almost two years. Following a nail-biting win in Atlanta, without three of the Heat’s best players, the team found its identity and have played off that energy since. The effects have spoken for itself as the team has ascended to the East’s elite class and possibly further as the season winds down. Continuing that trend will be a huge telling point to see what this team is made of.
From now until the Heat’s last game, here are five bold predictions for the team’s final stretch of the season.
5. The Heat will obtain the second seed in the East.
After struggling with mediocre play the first-half of the season, the Miami Heat have looked like a different team post All-Star break. Following a change in style, with a much faster offense, the Heat (38-28) have won nine of their last 11 games and are currently fourth in the Eastern Conference behind the Cleveland Cavaliers (47-18), Toronto Raptors (44-20) and Boston Celtics (39-27).
While the Heat are aiming to capture the third seed, it’s not far-fetched to believe they can reach the second spot as well. The Raptors, who are in second place, face 13 playoff-bound teams in their final 18 games of the season, mostly matchups versus teams desperately fighting for a guaranteed playoff spot. With the Heat’s recent resurgence and a less severe schedule, including five games with the Orlando Magic, Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers, the possibility Miami garners the second seed is well within range.
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4. Dwyane Wade will play in at least 75 games this season.
It hasn’t been done in a while but it would be very impressive if Dwyane Wade could in at least 75 games this season. At age 34, with a history of injures, many did not think Wade could play more than 60 games and would sit out on certain nights of back-to-backs this season. Instead, the 13-year guard has played in 60 of the Heat’s 66 games and has proven everyone wrong (again).
The last time Wade surpassed 75 games was in 2011 (76), before his 2012 knee surgery. Since then, the shooting guard has failed to play 70 games in a season and has missed over 25 percent of the team’s games over the last two years.
If the future Hall-of-Famer plays in the Heat’s final 16 games, he will have played 76 games this season, the most since 2010 when Wade was putting up 26.6 points a game. A towering endeavor, Heat fans will probably want the team’s leading scorer rested and fully ready for the playoffs. However, Wade not needing to miss even a week due to injury is a positive sign heading into the postseason and something everyone should appreciate.
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3. Hassan Whiteside will break both of Alonzo Mourning’s block records.
During the 1998-99 season, Alonzo Mourning averaged a franchise-record 3.91 blocks a game. The following season, the Heat lifer blocked a total of 294 shots.
Both records are among the most difficult to attain in Heat history. However, current Heat center Hassan Whiteside is targeting both records in the same season but will need to step it up a little to top them by April.
The 26-year-old is averaging 3.90 blocks a game and has rejected a total of 222 shots. In addition to maintaining his blocking average, Whiteside will have to block 72 shots in the team’s last 16 games, about 4.5 per game, to break the total record, assuming he plays in every game. For the center to muster up those numbers would be an arduous task but if there’s anybody in the NBA who’s qualified, it’s Whiteside.
The center out of Marshall University leads the league in blocks per game and in totals. The closest player to Whiteside’s leading figure of 222 blocked shots is DeAndre Jordan with 146. Among the top eight players in total blocks, Whiteside has amazingly played the least games (57). Those eye-popping blocking stats coupled with the 11.8 rebounds (4th in the NBA) Whiteside averages per game has put the young center in legitimate contention to win the Defensive Player of the Year award as well.
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2. Erik Spoelstra will win Coach of the Year.
With Chris Bosh’s future up in the air, the season-ending surgeries of Beno Udrih and Tyler Johnson, Goran Dragic playing uncomfortably and Hassan Whiteside’s suspension, the Heat looked destined to fall out of the playoff picture right after the All-Star break. That was to everyone except Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. The eighth-year coach wouldn’t allow the team to go through the same thing as last year.
Instead, Spoelstra allowed Dragic to run a much faster offense and boldly kept Whiteside on the bench to start games. In addition, Luol Deng was moved to the power forward slot and Amar’e Stoudamire continued starting at center.
The moves helped revive Dragic and Deng’s career as the two have seen boosts in individual production and team success. Convincing Whiteside to come off the bench, which some consider a demotion, is a tedious task to do when talking to a player that’s a free agent in the summer. The 7-footer and Spo happily talked things out and the demotion has proven to be a great shift for both the Heat and Whiteside, who is now averaging more points (17.6), rebounds (14.8), and blocks (3.92) off the bench since the break.
For Spoelstra, 45, the NBA Coach of the Year Award has been long overdue. The two-time NBA champion has continued to make the most of what he’s had and has not complained about it. After losing his highest-paid player for the second-straight year, the coach has motivated his team to play for something meaningful and not give up.
While newer coaches – the Boston Celtics’ Brad Stevens, Portland Trail Blazers’ Terry Stotts, Toronto Raptors’ Dwane Casey, Memphis Grizzlies’ Dave Joerger – all have strong cases, the Heat’s ability to rise to the East’s elite amidst grueling circumstances is a testimony to Spoelstra’s relentless coaching ability. If the Heat finish with a better record than the teams listed above, Spoelstra is more than deserving to acquire his first Coach of the Year award.
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1. The Miami Heat will reach the NBA Finals.
At the beginning of the season the Eastern Conference Finals appeared to have been the ceiling for this Heat team. After showing inspired play over the last few weeks and the possibility of Bosh returning this season, the Heat could make a serious run come playoff time and make the finals.
Although the Cavs are the overwhelming favorite, recent losses to Detroit, Toronto, Washington and Memphis as well as reported disconnection between LeBron James and Kryie Irving have the team looking more vulnerable than ever. Since Tyronn Lue took over as the head coach, the reigning Eastern Conference champs have gone 17-7 after starting the season 30-11 with David Blatt. The Cavaliers have some work cut out for them in the coming months and facing a clicking team like the Heat could be a massive problem.
Despite the insignificant play and injuries, the Heat have the right amount of depth to match up with any team in the playoffs. With a championship-leveled coaching staff and playoff-experienced players the Heat are more than a dark horse candidate in the East. In the playoffs, every successful team needs a star and the Heat have that in seasoned veterans Wade and potentially Bosh as well as a closer in Joe Johnson. Plug in the league’s top shot blocker in Whiteside, a thriving point guard in Dragic, a budding rookie star in Justise Winslow and the All-Star revival in Deng and the Heat could very well knock off James and the Cavs in the playoffs.
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