Buying or selling the Miami Heat as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
It’s hard to overlook what the Miami Heat has done so far this season. Even though they will likely be judged by what they do in the postseason, it’s hard to ignore the regular-season success that they’ve had thus far and ignore it.
A little more through the midway point of the season, the Heat is 31-17 and sitting in the No. 1 seed of the Eastern Conference. Erik Spoelstra should be one of the favorites to win the NBA’s Coach of the Year award as this team has managed to navigate through the season with their big 3 – of Kyle Lowry, Jimmy Butler, and Bam Adebayo – only having played 14 games together so far this season.
Altogether, the trio of Lowry, Jimmy, and Bam have missed a combined 61 games this season. Still, the Heat has the best record in the East and rising contributors all over the roster – and the team is still slated to get back Victor Oaldipo at some point in February.
The big question for this team heading into the playoff push – with just 34 games remaining in the regular season before the start of the postseason – is whether or not this is a team that can be relied on to not only win the No. 1 seed in the East but to also play like a No. 1 seed once the playoffs begin.
We’ve seen in the past; teams that are built for the regular season fizzle out in the playoffs. Interestingly enough, that wasn’t the knock on the Heat heading into this season. In fact, they were almost the complete opposite of that.
During the season, the concerns around this team revolved around whether or not they’d be able to hold up in the regular season. This was a team that many labeled as “built for the postseason.” Because of that, along with their “lack of depth,” the concern was that this team was going to be a bottom 4 seed heading into the playoffs and, thusly, be placed in a bad position to make a deep run in the postseason.
Miami, at least so far, has proved all of those narratives wrong.
They’re No. 1 in the East and don’t have that difficult of a schedule remaining. They have also proven the narrative wrong that suggests they don’t have depth. In fact, you can make an argument that they’re one of the deepest teams in the East.
And the fact that they’re currently No. 1 in the conference would suggest that.
Not only does the Heat have a strong top 3 in Lowry, Jimmy, and Bam, but Duncan Robinson is starting to come around offensively, Tyler Herro is probably going to win the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award, Max Strus has carved out an important role for the team, and PJ Tucker has proven to be invaluable for the team on both ends of the floor.
And we haven’t even mentioned Gabe Vincent, Caleb Martin, and Omer Yurtseven who have all flashed at different moments this season. Plus, Oladipo is slated to return soon as well.
Even though they may not be getting the national attention that some in the fan base believe this team deserves, there’s no question that the Heat is going to be a problem when the playoffs start.
And as this team gets healthier, they’re only going to get stronger.
Considering the injuries that are facing the Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if the Heat entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Buy the Heat. This team appears to be the real deal.