Guess we don't need those Game 5 tickets for the Heat vs. Bobcats. It's a shame too. I had lower level balcony baseline seats. But, hey, no complaints -- we're the only team in the playoffs to sweep its adversary, and while doing it we looked Miami Strong!
Plus, the rest of the playoffs (barring the unfortunate fiasco in LA) have been absolutely amazing. The Pacers, our alleged number-one nemesis, are on the brink of elimination at the hands of the lowly Hawks (playing without Al Horford). Plus the mighty Bulls can't keep up with the Wizards. Out West there have been true battles -- their killing each other, with every other game ending in the last minute or in overtime. Meanwhile, the Miami Heat are just chilling, resting up.
Granted too much rest could knock a team off its rhythm, but this squad is too tight, too focused, too determined, and too well-coached to allow time off to derail them. On the contrary, the Miami Heat have had a ludicrous regular season schedule, especially at the end of the year playing 26 games in 43 days, with ridiculous stretches of four games in five or six days -- complete with silly back-to-back games taking us on the road in the second game. Like April 9, when we traveled to Memphis after playing Brooklyn at home. The best part of the NBA playoffs is that there are no back-to-back games, and that format suits the Miami Heat more than any other one.
Last year, on the way to their second consecutive championship, the Miami Heat tied an NBA record going 15-1 in the second game of back-to-back contests. This year, Miami barely played above .500 in the second night of back-to-backs, recording a 9-7 record.
The reason for this discrepancy: Dwayne Wade.
Due to injuries, Dwayne Wade hardly played in any back-to-back games all year. This was huge. Never, ever undervalue Wade's presence. He's still a top-15 player in the league and he's only getting more efficient with age. This year at 32, Wade shot a career-high 55 percent from the field, while averaging 19 points a game. He's a career 49-percent shooter from the field. Not to mention how the chemistry alters when Dwayne Wade's not on the court. You could see in Game 1 against the Bobcats, the onus or burdens of carrying the team just dissipate from LeBron's James's broad shoulders.
No back-to-back games in the playoffs, especially as the rest of the league is still embattled in epic series' will only help the Miami Heat on its quest for its 3-peat.
Let's go Heat! Four down, 12 to go!