“Not one time have they faced both Kyrie and KD together” - Stephen A. Smith believes Miami Heat should watch out for the Brooklyn Nets
The Miami Heat are having such an amazing run this season, with their eyes set on a championship title. They are currently the top seed in the NBA Eastern Conference, having registered a win-loss of 64.4%.
The Heat will most likely finish the season as the top seed if they don't lose their spot to the Milwaukee Bucks. They will likely face the Brooklyn Nets or Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference first-round of the playoffs depending on the outcome of the play-in tournament.
Stephen A. Smith on ESPN's First Take show believes that the Miami Heat could make a first-round exit to either the Raptors or the Nets. He recognized that the Heat have defeated the Nets thrice already this season, but he made the argument that they never had to play against the combination of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
As such, it is unwise to assume that they will have the upper hand against the Nets if they are paired in the first-round.
"Miami has beaten the Brooklyn Nets all three times they have played this season. Not one time have they faced both Kyrie and KD together. That has not happened, that changes this weekend but we shall see." Stephen A. said.
Will the Miami Heat have an advantage over the Brooklyn Nets if they get matched in the playoffs first-round?
The Miami Heat have gone head-to-head with the Brooklyn Nets thrice already this season and have come out victorious in all three games. This does not come as a surprise as the Nets have been without their superb combo of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in all encounters.
The first encounter was early on in the season as the Heat secured a 13-point victory at the Barclays Center. Durant had the most points in both teams, but the Heat had five double digits scorer with Jimmy Butler posting a triple-double.
Their next matchup was at the FTX Arena and Irving was available to play but Durant was out injured. The win slipped away from the grasp of the Nets by 4 points as all but two of the Heat players registered double digits on the night.
On March 3, both teams went at it again at the Barclays Center for the third time and the Heat claimed the win. However, Durant was back in the fold after recovering from a knee injury. Being a home game for the Nets, Irving was deemed ineligible in line with the New York City vaccination mandate.
Brooklyn Nets (38-35, eighth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Miami Heat (47-27, first in the Eastern Conference) qctimes.com/sports/basketb…
Both teams are scheduled to meet on Sunday night, with both Irving and Durant gracing the court. This encounter will be a true test of the capabilities of the Heat and will likely paint a picture of what the playoffs first-round will look like with the Heat going up against the Nets' complete squad.