The "Heat" have won three straight, one a thrilling comeback win over East-leading and bitter rival Boston. All three wins were at home.
Now they begin a 4-game road trip. Starting tomorrow in Charlotte they play all Eastern Conference teams, Cleveland, New York, and Milwaukee are the others. Erik Spoelstra said recently that he had seen something different in this team and I agreed. This is a chance for Miami to show it is a different team than the one that has stumbled around Middlesbrough like a drunk who can't make his way home; to build on this 3-dub momentum; to shoulder it's way toward the top four. It's a long season, boy, and 32 are left to play, but top four is keeping it real. It won't be the last chance for them but it is a chance. We need that perspective: top four.
We need this perspective: Post-LBJ through 2021/22, eight seasons, the "Heat's" win percentage expressed as a decimal was .543, 45 wins per season. After fifty games of 2022/23 the cumulative post-LBJ win decimal is .544, 45 wins. This season, through 50 games, the "Heat" is playing .560 ball. Projected over the 82-game season that's... 46 wins. That is the "Heat's" orbit. The win total wobbles from season to season but its tether rope anchors at 45 wins. There is no chance Miami will win the Eastern Conference, far less win the Finals.
