Heat takes charge in postseason | The Triangle

Heat takes charge in postseason

Just after I witnessed the Philadelphia 76ers defeat the Miami Heat in Game 4 of the first round in the NBA playoffs, a thought passed through my head.

Amidst the jubilation I was feeling that my beloved Sixers didn’t get swept, I couldn’t help but shake the thought that no one was going to beat the Heat in a seven-game series.

With a young coach who has about as much control over his team as a father does over his rebellious teenage girl, and a collection of bandwagon fans with tags still on their replica jerseys, the Miami Heat are poised to come out of the Eastern Conference and return to the finals for the first time since Shaquille O’Neal donned a Heat uniform and was under 400 pounds.

This is nothing you don’t already know. The Heat is stacked. They create severe match-up problems with every team they face, and have three potential options to close out ball games down the stretch. (The Sixers have none, for those keeping score at home.)

After not breaking a sweat in Philly and breezing through Boston, the Heat heads to Chi-town with a 3-1 series lead on the Derrick Rose led Chicago Bulls.

After coming out unprepared and as flat as a can of soda left open in Game 1, the Heat bounced back to take the next three games. With all of the momentum behind the Heat, it will be extremely difficult for Rose, Boozer and the rest of the Bulls to rally.

James dropped in 35 in a tremendously exciting Game 4. Both Rose and James squandered opportunities to win the game in regulation, but in overtime the Heat took over and won 101-93.

The big three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will be too much to handle and if Mike Bibby can step up along with any production at all off the bench, the Heat should end up where they predicted they would at the beginning of the season.

Around playoff time you always see headlines that read “How the West was Won” or something cliché like that. Well in these NBA playoffs, the West was won with a man from Central Europe.

The argument of who has been the best player in the NBA playoffs is a fiercely debated argument. Is it LeBron James? Is it Dirk Nowitzki? Is it Spencer Hawes? (I’m kidding about the last one.)

In my opinion, Nowitzki has been the best player in these playoffs. LeBron is LeBron; he’s the toughest player in the game and wears teams out at both ends of the court, but through his fierce competition and leadership, Nowitzki has propelled the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals.

Nowitzki is averaging over 38 minutes a game and 28.4 points to go with his 7.5 rebounds for game. It has been primarily because of Nowitzki’s performance that the Mavs were able to get by the Trailblazers, sweep the Lakers in hilariously embarrassing fashion, and close out Kevin Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder in five games.

After a Game 4 that OK City had all but sealed, the Mavs took care of deflated Thunder in Game 5. Shawn Marion and Nowitzki had to combine for more than half of the teams points, but with another fourth quarter comeback the Mavs solidified their spot in the finals.

These playoffs have been extremely entertaining and whoever the Mavs meet in the finals should make for a competitive series, yet I still cannot get that thought out of my head.

No one can beat the Heat in a seven-game series.