Miami Heat
The 2022-23 Miami Heat can be defined by making it all the way to the NBA Finals as an 8-seed, just the second team in NBA history to pull that off.
What did we learn?
From the Play-In to the Finals, Jimmy Butler and the Heat did it again.
Heat Culture defied expectations and “basketball logic,” marching through the Bucks, Knicks and Celtics — all the way back to the freaking NBA Finals.
This team was not very good in the regular season. The offense was dreadful, scoring the fewest points per game in the entire league. They did have a top-10 defense but still had a negative point differential for the season.
The Heat did not display any of the normal indicators that this team had a big playoff run in them, save for the name on the front of the jersey and the fact that Jimmy fucking Butler and Eric Spoelstra rep the 305.
Even so, they lost the first Play-In game against the Hawks, and it took a 4th quarter comeback in the second Play-In against the Bulls to squeak into the playoffs.
That’s where playoff Jimmy was reincarnated from the Bubble and the Heat took down the No. 1 seed Bucks like it was 2020 all over again. Jimmy’s numbers were absolutely nutty, averaging 37.6 points in the Bucks series. His 42 points in the Heat’s Game 5 comeback series-clinching win was one of those rare face-melting-out-of-body NBA experiences.
Giannis was playing through an injury, yes, but the Heat burned up the Bucks all the same. They didn’t even have Tyler Herro, the team’s third-best player, who went down in Game 1 in Milwaukee and was lost for rest of the postseason. Oladipo went down, too, lost for the playoffs after Game 3.
But everyone else on the “Zombie Heat” stepped up.
Duncan Robinson reclaimed a spot in the lineup and reminded us why he was given that $90 million contract in the first place.
Gabe Vincent and Max Strus went from undrafted to starting every playoff game for Miami. (Except for one ECF game when Vincent was hurt.)
Even Kevin Love and Cody Zeller, both picked up off the scrap heap, gave Spo minutes when called upon.
And of course, Caleb Martin went from being picked up off waivers before the season to (the real) Eastern Conference Finals MVP.
But before the ECF, the Heat had to take down the Knicks in the second round. Bam put Mitchell Robinson in his place and the Heat won in 6 despite an ankle injury slowing Jimmy B down. Butler still managed to lead the Heat in points in five out of six games.
And in that Eastern Conference Finals rematch against the Celtics, the Heat brought the toughness and tenacity and punched the Celtics in the mouth three straight games. That offense that struggled in the regular season was flying. The Heat caught fire.
Miami’s top-3 scorers in the first three games:
ECF Game 1: Jimmy 35, Bam 20, Lowry 15, Caleb Martin 15
ECF Game 2: Jimmy 27, Caleb Martin 25, Bam 22
ECF Game 3: Gabe Vincent 28, Duncan Robinson 22, Caleb Martin 18
The Heat pulled off the comeback in Game 6 at home, too, until Derrick White pulled it right out from underneath them.
No matter, they stormed right into the Garden in Game 7 and took what was rightfully theirs, a trip back to The Finals to shut up the Bubble naysayers once and for all.
But in The Finals against Joker and the Nuggets, the clock finally struck midnight for this NBA Cinderella. The Nuggets had far too much size, depth and lineup flexibility. And no matter how much he downplayed it, Jimmy’s ankle injury was severe and he just didn’t move the same on the court.
Bam sure held it down and fought his ass off in the Finals. There was also that Game 2 when the Heat did take down the Nuggets in Denver, making us question everything one last time.
The series was over in 5, but the Heat had already cemented their legacy.
From the Play-In to The Finals..
The Bubble and Heat Culture…
They’re as real as it gets.
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Additional Notes
Shout out to Udonis Haslem’s last dance. 20 years in the league is incredible and it’s awesome that he got to check into The Finals in his final season.
As if there was any doubt at all, Spo is hands down one of the best coaches in the league.
It’s long been forgotten now, but remember last season’s turmoil in that one game between Jimmy and Spo and Haslem? Winning cures everything.
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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?
Other teams in the East got decidedly better, but the Heat did not. Under 49 wins.
Heat 2022-23 record: (44-38)
Yes indeed. The Heat didn’t give a lick about the regular season.
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What’s Next?
With the No. 18 pick in the draft, the Heat selected Jaime Jaquez Jr. from UCLA. Although his suit didn’t scream Miami as much as we had hoped, his game seems like a good fit.
Free agents here include Max Strus, Gabe Vincent and Kevin Love. Those first two were mighty big players in the Heat’s run to The Finals. But recent reports suggest Max Strus is probably gone and getting a bag.
Victor Oladipo has opted in to his player option for next season, which means the Heat already have $176 million in salary with 61 percent of that going to Jimmy, Bam and Herro. *whistles* Adjusting this roster too much is going to take some Pat Riley mastery.
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