Will the Miami Heat Three Peat?

On the back of the big 3 Miami have been the reigning champions two years in a row now and made the finals three times in a row. Their impressive display against the Thunder in 2012 confirmed that the Heat would be a serious threat for many years. What made them even scarier was the fact that their role players such as Miller, Battier, Haslem and Chalmers were playing well. Coming into the next season they managed to pick up Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen making it seemingly impossible for anyone to compete with them.

Taking a closer look at the series vs. the Thunder Shane Battier was incredible. He became the first player since Dennis Scott to make four triples in four straight post-season games! Chalmers had a 25-point game in game 4 and Haslem was pretty good on the rebounds for most of the series. Then of course Mike Miller raining down SEVEN three pointers in game 5 to clinch the title! These players’ great performances combined with the domination of Lebron James averaging 28.6ppg 10.2 rebounds and 7.4 assists- incredible numbers- made it impossible for OKC to stand a chance especially with Harden somewhat fading away.

Coming into the 2013 NBA Finals Series, Miami had just passed Indiana and Spurs had cruised by Memphis in what promised to be a great Finals matchup. The league was about to see why Ray Allen was signed by the Heat- because he delivers in the big moments and there was none other than game 6 when he hit the three to send it into overtime.  In this series the role players that stepped up were Chalmers, Miller and Ray Allen. The other new recruit Birdman was more effective in previous series during the playoffs. Mike Miller hit a crazy 61% of his threes while Shane Battier waited until Game 7 to do his best work but Chris Bosh was nowhere to be seen he really struggled this series and depended on Lebron and Wade to carry the team.

The question is now can Miami again count on its role players to step up once again? They have resigned Chris Anderson and Rashard Lewis; apart from that they have made no acquisitions yet. By amnestying Mike Miller it takes away a three-point threat that has consistently delivered over the last two years in the Finals. The roster up until this point has gone backwards and we know in the NBA you can’t stay still and expect to be in the same position you were last year, which is why the Heat have to make moves if it expects to win again.

Ray Allen's big 3

 Will Battier, Allen and the other vets be a little more complacent now? They won their titles now do they really have the drive to do it again? Wade’s health is also a concern he has been struggling with knee issues, there is a cloud over Bosh’s status if he will be kept or traded and uncertainty over whether Lebron will stay with the team or switch back to the Cavaliers. The lack of roster upgrades combined with the amount of uncertainties at this point in time with key players make it very doubtful to see the Heat three peat.

What’s even worse for the Heat is that the teams all around them in the Eastern Conference have improved over last year. Pacers regain Danny Granger and signed CJ Watson and Chris Copeland, Brooklyn picked up Paul Pierce, KG, Jason Terry and Andre Kirilenko, Chicago will have Derrick Rose back and the Knicks signed Metta World Peace and Andrea Bargnani while hopefully Amare Stoudemire achieves full health as well. It will be a hard task for the Heat to overcome these teams while not making many changes apart from Greg Oden to their own roster at all.

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Will Miami Three Peat?

Yes

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