The Miami Heat may still advance to the NBA Finals and they may top the San Antonio Spurs to win their second NBA Championship in a row. But guess what? It’s time to hit the reset button in Miami.
Three summers ago, when LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Dwyane Wade in South Beach to create a three-headed monster, they vowed that they would win not one, not two, not three, not four NBA Championships.
The NBA hasn’t been the same since as stars around the league have tried to link up to match the firepower Miami has.
Miami got off to a slow start fulfilling that promise as they struggled in the NBA Finals and lost to Dallas in Year 1. The following season they thumped Oklahoma City to win their first championship. Even if Miami gets past Indiana and San Antonio this month, it’s highly likely to be the last championship the Big Three win together.
Bosh has been lauded as an important member of the Heat but has struggled mightily against Roy Hibbert in the Eastern Conference Final. The Pacers centre has averaged 22.8 points and 10.8 rebounds during the Eastern Conference Finals while Bosh, who has been hobbled by an ankle injury, has been limited to 11.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
Ouch.
Even worse has been the play of Wade. It’s hard to knock a player who is gutting it out while injured, however, it’s clear Wade’s body is no longer able to withstand the pounding of an 82-game schedule and then perform at a high level in the playoffs. Wade has averaged 24.7 points while shooting 48.9 per cent from the field during his career, yet he his scoring dipped to 22.8 last year in the playoffs and his numbers have dipped substantially more this year to 13.6.
There were whispers around the NBA last season that Wade had lost his first step and that he was a shell of the player he used to be. The Heat guard bounced back during the regular season this year but similar questions are now starting to form about Wade’s healthy and durability.
Things are coming to a boil in Miami as both Bosh and Wade are frustrated with how things are shaking out this year in the playoffs.
“I’m not going to make any excuses. I didn’t show up for my teammates tonight, and I’m not going to let it happen again,” Bosh told reporters after Game 6.
“I’m really disappointed in myself.”
“We’ve got to do a good job of making sure me and Chris (Bosh) have our opportunities to succeed throughout the game,” Wade vented after Game 5. “That’s something we’re going to have to look at as a team.”
Sorry, but when you start Friday’s Game 6 loss to Indiana shooting 2-10 from the field in the first half, missing three shots at the rim, it’s unclear what else your team can do to get you going. Wade finished the game 3-11 from the field and only scored 10 points.
Equally troubling is that James has done all the heavy lifting and has admitted there’s not much more he can do. He has averaged 28.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.5 dimes while doing a solid job locking down Paul George for most of this series.
“I mean, we can state the obvious, they’re both struggling,” James said of Wade and Bosh. “When you’re struggling, the best thing to get is a layup or a dunk. (Wade) missed a couple of them and Chris is struggling with his shot. Hurting his ankle didn’t help.”
Bosh, 29, James, 28, and Wade, 31, aren’t getting any younger. If Bosh and Wade are limping through the playoffs. how will this get better next year, or even two years from now? Neither are getting any younger and the miles from playing deep in the playoffs these last three years combined with commitments to the national team over recent summers isn’t helping their bodies.
Where things fall apart for Miami is when Bosh, James and Wade don’t have clear advantages in games. Against Indiana, the Pacers have a post player in Hibbert that has had a clear advantage over Bosh while Lance Stephenson and Paul George have done solid jobs containing James and shutting down Wade.
The reality is the Pacers are a young team with its core locked up and they aren’t going anywhere. If Indiana boots Miami from the playoffs then they may be just the kind of team to prevent the Heat from reaching the NBA Finals again next season.
Due to the amount of money the Heat are paying their star trio, Miami doesn’t have a lot of extra cap space around to sign role players. When you factor in that Mike Miller makes $6.2 million next season and Udonis Haslem will make $4.3 million, they are nearly capped out by those five players alone.
If Miami were wise they would make some bold moves this summer to unload Bosh or Wade for younger talent in the hope of convincing James to stick around past next season. The reality is Wade has meant so much to Miami that there’s minimal chance they move him even if his age and health make him the likely target.
If the Heat are put in a bind due to salary cap restraints it would appear Bosh would be odd man out in Miami’s much coveted three-some.
If things stay the course and Miami doesn’t win a championship this season and next, look for James to look long and hard at bolting for Cleveland, Los Angeles or whatever team makes a strong push for him in the summer of 2014.
The thought of James and his friends bolting town without winning a handful of championships will give basketball fans in Miami chills, even in their warm climate.