The basketball world went into a frenzy after the Heat fell behind 2-1 in their Eastern Conference semifinals series against the Pacers last week. Dwyane Wade shoot poorly the first three games of the series, and he was particularly crappy going 2-13 in a Game 3 loss in Indiana that left everyone panicking. All of a sudden, we were hearing people call Chris Bosh the Heat’s MVP, and they were talking about how much trouble Miami was in without him.
While Miami was bound to struggle without their All-Star big man, everyone needs to remember that the Heat still have two of the top five players in the world on their team, therefore they should be able to keep winning as long as those guys perform well. Recall that LeBron James took a Cavaliers team that had less talent than the Bosh-less Heat to the NBA Finals in 2007 playing against a similarly weak Eastern Conference (with Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard injured, the conference is weak).
LeBron played like a man on a mission in Games 4 and 5 against the Pacers, and Wade was similarly brilliant in the close-out Game 6. Wade also played infinitely better in Games 4 and 5 after receiving some time to recover from having his knee drained.
We can be impressed by what James and Wade did without Bosh in their series against the Pacers, but we really shouldn’t be surprised by it. This is what the Heat should be doing. Realistically, they’re better than the rest of the teams in the East even without Bosh. But Wade and James need to continue playing at their MVP levels for the team to win the title. If they’re anything less than what they’ve been the past three games, they will get eliminated. Don’t tell me the standard is too high; this is what needs to be done for a championship to be won.
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