Dec 12, 2014; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Miami Heat center
Chris Bosh(1) and Miami Heat guard
Dwyane Wade(3) talk during halftime against the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena. Miami Heat won the game 100-95. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
The Miami Heat Will Not Make The Playoffs
Hoops Habit
One of the most disappointing stories this season, especially for me personally, has been the Miami Heat. With Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh re-signing in the offseason, along with Luol Deng coming over, I expected this team to compete for a top-5 playoff spot in the Eastern conference, if not better.
Evidently, that hasn’t been the case at all this season. Instead, the Heat are simply trying to remain in the playoff picture. If it weren’t for the terrible conference and for the emergence of Hassan Whiteside in his last nine games, this team would be out of the playoff picture completely.
Sitting in the No. 7 slot a little more than half way through the season tells he a few things about this team. One, LeBron James masked much of their talent holes. Two, Chris Bosh is no longer a guy that can be asked to carry a team, regardless of what his statistical output is this season. And three, I’m not sure what’s wrong with this team, but something internally is wrong when you have two potential all-stars on a team and can’t even play .500 basketball in the Eastern Conference.
Dwayne Wade has had two injury scares already this season, and is on his way to a third. The only chance this team has of making the playoffs is if Pat Riley figures out a way to trade for a shooting guard that can help compensate for the loss of Wade when he’s resting and/or injured.
With that being a highly unlikely scenario, I don’t believe the Heat are making the playoffs this season.
Next: An Unlikely West Champion?