After a frustrating and inept regular season, the Miami Heat are on the verge of doing something that seemed impossible until the last few days — reach the Eastern Conference Finals.
They can do so with a win on Wednesday over the New York Knicks in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, and they will have Jimmy Butler and Caleb Martin available despite ankle and back ailments, respectively.
When the series started, some felt the Knicks would win because of their rugged frontline, and also because the Heat have been without Tyler Herro, who was third on the team in scoring average during the regular season.
But Miami has outhustled and outworked the Knicks through the first four games, and at least so far, it clearly looks like the better team.
It began the series with a seven-point win at Madison Square Garden with New York star big man Julius Randle out due to injury, and after it dropped Game 2, it took clear control of the series back in South Florida.
Game 3 was a no-contest 105-86 win, and although the Knicks were competitive in Game 4, the Heat were consistently able to keep them at bay, leading to a 109-101 victory.
A big reason why the Heat are up 3-1 in this series is the fact that they’re simply doing the little things much better than New York. They’re making the extra passes on offense that lead to open shots, controlling the defensive and offensive boards and playing on a string defensively.
New York is shooting just 43.6 percent in this series, which is proof that the Heat are back to their old form. They’re winning with defense and by forcing their opponents to grind it out and play ugly.
Another win in this series would send them to the Eastern Conference Finals for the third time in the last four years, which would be quite an accomplishment for a team that has been underestimated many times during that span.