In NBA circles, there has been a strong sentiment among some that the 2020 NBA playoffs were an anomaly and that nothing that happened in them should have any real merit because it took place inside the Walt Disney World Bubble with no fans in attendance.
Some think the Los Angeles Lakers’ championship that year was a fluke and that the run the Miami Heat, their opponents in the NBA Finals that year, had was also fraudulent.
Charles Barkley says the Miami Heat are pretenders that won't go far in the playoffs and that the NBA Bubble was the most overrated season ever pic.twitter.com/R9acSAj3to
— Piñata Farms 🪅 (@pinatafarms) April 16, 2022
Miami reached the championship series by upsetting the Milwaukee Bucks, who had the league’s best record, in the Eastern Conference semifinals, jumping out to a 3-0 lead and taking the series in five.
The Heat then took down the Boston Celtics in the conference finals in six games.
If anyone thought the Heat’s success that year was fool’s good, what they have been doing recently is proof that they’ve been a legitimate contender ever since setting foot in the bubble.
Miami Cruised Through The Regular Season
Coming into this season, Miami was not widely expected to be any type of real contender for the world title.
According to one source, it had only the 12th-best odds of winning it all, and FiveThirtyEight predicted a mediocre 44-38 finish.
A seven-person panel at Yahoo Sports picked the Heat to finish no higher than third in the Eastern Conference.
But Miami gradually climbed the standings, staying under the radar as they did in 2020, and when the schedule ended, it had finished first with 53 wins.
The Heat did so mostly on the strength of their defense, which ranked fifth in defensive efficiency and fourth in points allowed.
It was not an easy season by any means, as Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Markieff Morris, Tyler Herro, and newcomer Kyle Lowry missed a significant number of games.
But as it has always done, Miami got some contributions from unexpected and unsung heroes such as Max Strus, Caleb Martin and Gabe Vincent.
Herro had a very impressive season, boosting his scoring average to 20.7 per game and hitting 39.9 percent of his 3-point shots, production that earned him the Sixth Man of the Year award.
Once the playoffs started, observers were forced to realize that Miami could challenge for the Eastern Conference crown again.
Miami Has Surged In The Playoffs
Just about everyone expected the Heat to get past the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the postseason, which they did in five games.
Many predicted they would defeat the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round, and they did just that in six games.
But heading into the Eastern Conference Finals versus the Boston Celtics, few, if any national pundits picked a Miami triumph.
In Game 1 on Tuesday, the Heat trailed by eight at halftime, and it looked like Boston simply had too much firepower for them.
But they flipped the complexion of the contest in the third quarter, outscoring Boston 22-2 and maintaining control for the rest of the game.
In the Heat’s 118-107 win, Butler thoroughly outplayed Jayson Tatum with 41 points, nine rebounds, five assists, four steals and three blocked shots.
Butler has been on a tear throughout these playoffs.
Against Philly, Jimmy Butler leads the Heat in:
▫️ Points
▫️ Assists
▫️ Rebounds (tied)
▫️ Steals
▫️ MinutesPlayoff Jimmy is back.
(@Klarna) pic.twitter.com/viIGxNIGBt
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 12, 2022
Simply put, it is time to give the Heat some serious respect, regardless of how this series turns out.
NEXT: Are The Heat Legitimate Championship Contenders?