Right now in the Eastern Conference, or more like the entire NBA, all eyes remain transfixed (rightfully so) on the saga of New York Knicks’ revelation Jeremy Lin. Last night’s events in Toronto will only add to the most unbelievable overnight success story the league has seen in some time.
Of course, the coverage surrounding Lin in everyone’s ongoing attempts to explain or wrap our collective minds around what is happening, will somehow continue to expand exponentially with every Knicks game. It seems impossible to think that the case study of Lin won’t continue to captivate the basketball world for the foreseeable future, whether the Knicks keep winning or not. The Knicks resurrection, led by the unlikeliest hero imaginable, is firmly cemented as the story of the NBA season. And the Miami Heat are probably their biggest supporters.
No team in recent memory underwent the constant scrutiny (putting it lightly) that last season’s Heat did. As much as they attempted to embrace the role of the villain, and in some cases add to it, the strain of always being hated so much from all corners seemed to take its toll. The eventual three-game losing streak to the champion Dallas Mavericks in the Finals provided the schadenfreude everyone wanted to see; the triumph of team over preseason celebrations.
This season is, in many ways totally different. Miami’s reliance on learning on the fly last season — especially with the constant chemistry tweaking needed between Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James — gave them a familiarity going into this year that could survive a lockout-hampered offseason. And as was the case for large portions of last year and continues to be now, the sheer force of James and Wade on the same side can oftentimes be enough to offset any blemishes.
As we’ve seen most recently with the complete destruction of a back-to-back-to-back from Sunday through last night, all on the road against competitive Eastern Conference foes, the Heat are firing on all cylinders in a way that makes it feel normal and disturbingly workmanlike. They won those three games (the first time in 33 years a team has won three road games on three straight nights) in Atlanta, Milwaukee and Indiana by an average score of 109-91. Three quality, playoff-caliber teams dismantled with relentless defense, the unstoppable open court plays that follow, and the blinding talent of James, Wade and more often than not this season, Bosh. When they’re playing with their current energy and focus levels, being playoff-caliber does not make a team Miami-caliber.
Currently in the East, the other major players are not all at full strength at the moment. The Chicago Bulls can’t be themselves without a healthy Derrick Rose, the Celtics appear to have a renewed energy with Rondo firmly back in control but durability questions remain; Philadelphia is improved yet incomplete and while the Hawks seem perennially stuck in the middle, Orlando won’t be able to move on until they figure out who will — or won’t — be playing in theirs.
Make no mistake, the Miami Heat will never totally be out of the national spotlight. Their play cannot escape any nightly NBA highlight package, and James, though the vitriol seems to be dialed down a degree this season, remains the league’s premier talent. While everyone is focusing their attention towards New York, Miami just continues to gain momentum and assert control as the most serious-sounding background noise one can think of.
Griffin Gotta contributes to The Hoop Doctors and is a co-managing editor of Straight Outta Vancouver. The story arcs and infinite weirdness of the NBA are addictions he deals with every day. Email him at griffingotta at gmail dot com.
