Do the Miami Heat have the Cleveland Cavaliers’ number?
When the Miami Heat had LeBron James they only lost once to the Cleveland Cavaliers. That was on March 29, 2011. The Heat had a 13-1 record against the Cavs.
Now, LeBron has returned to Cleveland, and the Heat have a winning record against the Cavs going 6-4.
This raises the question; Do the Heat have the Cavs number?
The answer is yes they do and the Cavs have to be very careful.
The Heat are a game and a half in back of the Chicago Bulls in the playoff standings and the Cavs are clinging on to a 2-game lead over the Boston Celtics for the top seed in the east.
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If the Cavs lose the one seed, the second seed isn’t much more of an easier path with the fact that the Cavs just lost to Detroit Pistons, even with LeBron having a monster game.
In their last meeting, Dion Waiters hit a deep, game-clinching three that helped the Heat take their second game in a row against the Cavs. As a result, the Miami Heat will at least tie the regular season series this year after they won it last year 2-1 and they tied it the year before that 2-2.
The Cavs have had their struggles this year with injuries mounting, the most recent being the newly signed Andrew Bogut. The defense hasn’t been there at times either, as mental errors lead to the Cavs giving up plenty of uncontested looks.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are on a three-game losing streak and, with the playoffs around the corner, a healthy team and ending the season on a good note will be crucial to the Cavs championship hopes.
Nonetheless, the Heat can make things interesting in the first round after the Cavs.
With players like Goran Dragic, Justice Winslow, Hassan Whiteside and Dion Waiters, the Heat have players that are proven to heat up (no pun intended) at anytime.
Tyler Johnson is another player that can be a person to look out for also.
The Heat are even more dangerous because they are young, scrappy and no one is expecting anything from them.
Remember, the Cavs are the defending champions. So that means that everybody will give their A-1 effort against them.
That can be tough because this is the first time the Cavs have won the championship in their history and most of their players can coincide with that statement also.
It is like a domino effect with this team. Since they were hit with injuries, there has been no consistent play and that leads to the mental errors on defense.
You’re able to see proof of this because the best winning streak the Cavs have is a six-game winning streak from the beginning of the season.
My point is, when the Cavs were winning games that was when everybody was healthy.
Losing Bogut was big because they don’t have anybody coming off the bench that plays down low that will bang bodies with other teams that will play them tough like the Heat.
Lost in all the offense that the Cavs have garnered is the defensive toughness that the past Cavs teams have had in players like Dellavedova and Timofey Mozgov.
The talent is good but there is always space needed in your roster for the guys that get the dirty work done.
LeBron has never lost a first round series in his career and the last three teams to be an eighth seed and beat a one seed were the 2007 Warriors, the 2011 Grizzles, and the 2012 76ers. The Heat are building up for an interesting series if the Cavs can hold on to the one seed and the Heat can surge up to the eighth spot.
The next time the Cavs play the Heat is April 10th.
This is the Heat’s chance.There is no other greater time than now.
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Do you think that the Miami Heat can challenge the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs?