Miami Heat need to alter line of attack to cement their status as title favourites
The NBA title predictions for Miami Heat hit the road soon after LeBron James announced his decision to team up with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh last year. At that time everybody in Miami and the players thought that with three
of the best basketball players in the fold, the run for the Championship ring is going to be easy. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way.
After a 9-8 start, which shook the franchise from the South Beach, a 21-1 run in the next couple of month calmed the situation in Miami. The Heat ended the first half of the season on a high note winning last 10 games of 11 comprehensively.
They even managed to snatch the first spot from Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference.
However, their campaign has started to go all haywire ever since they have embarked on the toughest stretches of the season. It all started when the New York Knicks came to the town. The Knicks survived two shots out of James
in the final seconds. Orlando then made a wild comeback to beat them. They were blown out by the San Antonio Spurs next and then Chicago fought out a last second scramble to beat the Heat. Four straight losses against the teams with above 0.500 records and
the murmurs are again originating from the Heat camp. The biggest of them all is the ever increasing gap between James and Dwyane Wade.
On the night when the Heat lost to the Bulls, Wade openly exhibited a frustration that appeared to have been buried deep inside him throughout the season.
“Why don’t I get the ball when it matters?”
The Heat have struggled miserably in the close games all season. The loss of 11 games in which they had a chance to take the lead or tie the score in the final 12 seconds of regulation or overtime, gives some indication. The Heat
just don’t appear to shake off their nerves when the game heats up and are shooting 1 for 19 in those situations. The lone shot that actually went inside was against a losing cause against the Memphis Grizzlies. No matter James said that it was better to be
blown out in a game then to lose a tight one.
This is not their only problem though.
Despite of extensive domination by the inexorable Big Three, the Heat clearly have consistency concerns at point guard and center including the bench. Mike Bibby was anticipated to provide some depth in the line-up to support superstar
trio who are averaging a combined 69.9 points and 22.4 rebounds. However, after relinquishing veteran guard Carlos Arroyo to acquire Bibby, things remained the same for Heat until now.
There is no doubting Miami Heat’s aptitude; however, the line-up falling to the top teams is a big apprehension. Heat holds the sixth best record 43-20 in the league. With so much firepower though, many expected much more than
that. With playoffs just round the corner, in which they will be facing many of such strong oppositions, this a dilemma the Heat just cannot afford if they want to make a deep-run for the Championship.
Miami Heat shares immense talent with the finest players of the season however they need to sustain their momentum in the wavering moments of the game. The team should come up with a suitable option to support their defense and
the bench as the playoffs will be belligerent. They have big guns apart from the Big three, all they need is to provide them confidence to propel fireworks for the team.
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