The Miami Heat Revival

The Miami Heat started slow in the season. After finishing as a runner-up against the Los Angeles Lakers last season, the Heat started their season 7-14 as they looked lost on both sides of the court and seemed to be listless in their losses. Since being seven games under .500, the Heat have since improved their record to 30-28, as of Apr. 22nd. 

Their slow start can be attributed to many things in the current NBA season. Whether it is starting earlier than expected, mental and physical fatigue from playing in the NBA bubble for three months, player expectations being too high due to playoff performances from last year or from playing in a pandemic for the past year, Miami was not the same team at the beginning of the season.

Butler coached up his teammate while being sidelined with an injury. (Al Diaz/Miami Herald)

Starting with consistency in terms of a starting lineup, Miami in the previous season employed 15 total starting lineups in the regular season while that number has already jumped up to 22 even before this current season has not been completed. Though most players were returning to the team from their Finals run, it remains hard to find consistency when players are in and out of the lineup. This inconsistency comes from COVID-19 protocol requiring players to miss games frequently, injuries sustained in the current season and players being traded. While NBA injuries overall are down, it is clear that Miami dealt with injuries heavily in the early part of this current season with stars such as Jimmy Butler, Goran Gragic and Tyler Herro missing a combined 62 out of 159 total games, it was hard for Miami to establish a rhythm in the early stages of the season.  Whether these injuries can be attributed to an early start or playing long stretches in the bubble, it is clear that the Heat are not the only team of the last four teams in the bubble last year to suffer as the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics have all dealt with injuries to stars this season as well.

Along with injuries, player expectations may have been set too high for players such as Herro, Duncan Robinson and other role players. Herro exploded in the playoffs last year, thus his expectations were set very high for this current season. Due to Herro still finding his footing, him enjoying the celebrity life or whatever else; Herro has not had the season people thought after his performance in the playoffs. While his overall stats are up slightly from his rookie season, the expectation of this “next step” for Herro to take was lofty as he has not hit those expectations and subsequently has left fans disappointed. Robinson similarly has not elevated his play to a level people expected following his trip to the Finals. Rather, he has matched his stats almost to a T from the previous year. While that isn’t a bad thing necessarily, it falls short of the perceived “next step” people expect these younger players to take following a run of great play.

The Heat seem to be getting healthy/consistent at the right time, leading to a victory over the Brooklyn Nets. (Isaac Baldizion)

Following their atrocious start to the season, relative to expectations, the Heat have started to turn it around. Currently, their record sits at 30-28 following back-to-back wins against the vaunted Brooklyn Nets and the San Antonio Spurs. 

The team has been able to find consistency in their lineup and potentially have rid themselves of a locker room cancer following the Myers Leonard incident and his subsequent trade to the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

Their acquisition of disgruntled star, Victor Oladipo, from the Houston Rockets has injected life into this team as well. However, their recent play doesn’t necessarily speak to their turnaround as prior to their gutsy win against the Nets and their blowout victory over the Spurs, the Heat lost three games in a row. 

The Heat and their players have shown resilience during a season that could easily have been written off due to their mitigating circumstances that led to their slow start. However, with consistency in the starting lineup and a couple of new faces on the roster, they’ve shown the mental toughness that led them to the NBA Finals the previous season and continue back on their path to the playoffs.