It’s a night in Miami, people crowding downtown, in red, black and white jerseys with signs, foam fingers and anything to show their support. This is not any regular night; this is a night that the Miami Heat gets their strengths tested in this night of the NBA Finals in this Game 7 against Lakers. They had lots of hardship getting here, maintain a 62-20 record during the regular season, LeBron having another MVP like season but losing to Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh continued to have issues with their legs, some players feeling like they weren’t getting enough recognition for their talents, and the biggest problem… fitting Ray Allen into the playbook to where he feels comfortable. During the regular season, he didn’t look comfortable as he wasn’t running around the court and eventually spotting up like he normally would; instead he was either spotting up instantly or having to run plays that doesn’t involve him running around. It’s been tough getting him adjusted to the Heat’s coaching scheme but he said, “With some time invested, he will eventually get used to it.” Dwayne Wade went to go get his knee drained during the summer, which made him miss out on the Olympics, but it was well worth it. He bounced back early in the season going into the All-Star break averaging 24.3 PPG, 5 RPG, and 4 APG, with a worthy mention of 2 BPG and 2.4 STL. But after the All-Star break it seem like he started slowing down more and the problems started to come back, he kept tending to it every week, and he also had occasional limping. ESPN caught up with him before he entered the locker room and he had this to say, “My knee isn’t 100%, but I’m not in lots of pain, I will go out tonight and play this game with my all…. No slacking.” Chris Bosh came off an ok regular season, nothing spectacular. With 13 PPG and 8 RPG he did enough to give his team the 2nd record in the league, right behind their opponents in the Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers. Bosh had knee and ankle problems early off in the season, while continuing to play he wasn’t a big factor down the stretch of games. You can tell that he struggled and was frustrated by his lack of contribution, it took him a while to get in a groove but it finally came around February once the injuries wasn’t a big part of the factor. The Heat ended the season on a 20 game win streak, which gave them plenty momentum going into the Playoffs beating the Philadelphia 76ers in a 4-0 sweep, then beating the Chicago Bulls in a 4-1 series, and finishing off the Boston Celtics in a 4-3 series which was the highest watched matchup in the playoffs not including the Finals. LeBron James has truly put the team on his back having a 28.9 PPG, 7 RPG, and 8.7 APG, being a leader on his team, the team put in all faith in him after he lead them to the team’s 2nd ring and his 1st ring last season. “If Kobe Bryant didn’t have the miraculous season he had, LeBron would surely have his 4th MVP,” says Charles Barkley.
LeBron wasn’t fazed by not winning MVP, he was just concerned about getting his team back to the Finals in all hopes to recreate what he had done last year and this being Game 7, and here is their chance to do that. But they have the biggest problem in front of them, and its name is the Los Angeles Lakers. The LA Lakers did lots of rebuilding over the off-season bringing in All-Stars, Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, with the addition of Antwan Jamison. “I’m very happy that the GM is finally making moves that will actually help the team to contribute to win it all like we are known to do,” said Kobe Bryant after both moves were done and finalized. Dwight, who had spent his whole career with the Magic before signing with the Lakers, had faced lots of turmoil with the management of Orlando around last season with his obsession with wanting to be traded. Even though he stated that he didn’t have any desire to be traded during the last portion of the season, numerous sources said that he went to management
