Can the Miami Heat win the Eastern Conference?
There is a reason why games are played in the NBA and nothing is guaranteed. Everyone has been talking about the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland possibly winning the eastern conference and maybe the Toronto Raptors, but what about the Miami Heat?
The Miami Heat are a very scrappy team and they play hard every night. They are well coached by Erik Spoelstra. Miami got off to a slow start last season and they finished with a 41-41 record, but they missed the playoffs because they lost a tiebreaker with the Chicago Bulls (41-41) for the eighth seed.
This season, the Miami Heat are currently 24-17 and they are currently on a six-game winning streak. The Heat sit in fourth place in the eastern conference and they lead the Southeast Division by a game over the Washington Wizards. They are 2.5 games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers for the number three seed and eight games behind the Boston Celtics for the number one seed.
Miami is ranked 28th in the NBA with averaging 101.0 points per game and ranked sixth in the NBA with giving up 102.0 points per game.
Goran Dragic is averaging 17 PPG 4.2 RPG 4.9 APG and 0.9 SPG. Wayne Ellington is averaging 10.7 PPG 2.8 RPG and 0.7 SPG. James Johnson is averaging 10.6 PPG 5.1 RPG 0.7 BPG and 0.9 SPG. Tyler Johnson is averaging 12.1 PPG 3.6 RPG 2.2 APG and 0.8 SPG.
Kelly Olynyk is averaging 10.4 PPG 5.8 RPG 2.1 APG and 0.9 SPG. Josh Richardson is averaging 12.7 PPG and 1.2 SPG. Dion Waiters is averaging 14.3 PPG 2.6 RPG 3.8 APG and 0.8 SPG. Hassan Whiteside is averaging 14 PPG 11.8 RPG and 1.7 BPG. Justise Winslow is averaging 6.6 PPG and 5.4 RPG.
The Miami Heat have a number of good players in a good system and different players contribute each night. It wouldn't be impossible for them to win a playoff series depending on the matchup.
However, trying to beat the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, or Cleveland Cavaliers in the east might be too much to ask for with this team. They are good enough defensively, but do they have the offensive firepower to win the East? One would suspect not.