The real Miami Heat didn’t face the Boston Celtics in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs last year.
That team was merely a shadow of its true self. The Heat played without their star, Jimmy Butler, and point guard Terry Rozier, both sidelined by injuries. So, are fans overreacting to Pat Riley’s near silence during free agency for the second consecutive year?
“We barely saw Rozier, Butler, [Tyler] Herro, and Bam [Adebayo] play together before everyone got injured at different times, including the end of the season when they were completely helpless against Boston in the playoffs,” ESPN’s Zach Lowe noted on his podcast this week.
Lowe has a valid point.
The Heat were undermanned when it mattered most last season. Rozier’s arrival at the trade deadline left little time for their top players to build chemistry. The reality is this: when healthy, the Heat have four players capable of scoring at least 20 points on any given night.
Few teams in the East, or even in the NBA, can claim that.
Many believe the Heat are as talented as any team in the league when not plagued by injuries. Look at the last two seasons: in 2023, they reached the Finals despite Herro missing the postseason. Last year, it was Rozier and Butler who were out.
This team hasn’t had the opportunity to prove its worth when healthy in the playoffs.