- The Miami Heat are a team we can’t ever underestimate. The Heat have a few things that they need to do to win. First off I don’t believe they have enough talent to go far in the playoffs but as I said before they always surprise you. The Heat need better health for their entire team. This means Tyler Herro has to be his normal self and come back as the offensive threat he has been. Next is Jimmy Butler, he has to become consistent and healthy. As a player Butler, who is now 34, must play like he’s still in his prime and bring it every night. Lastly Terry Rozier must play better. Terry is shooting 29% from three, compare that with 35% he shot earlierthis year with Charlotte.
- The Boston Celtics needs to do to win list is not so much about players but more about ball movement. Every possession the Celtics have should be run to get the defense in rotation for an open shoot. They have proven to be a good shooting team when having wide open shots. When Boston is challenged they resort to iso ball. In that vein when it comes to last shot with the game on the line they need to have a better plan then give it to Tatum and get out of his way.
- The Lakers may have found something when Lebron James was out. What the Lakers need to do to win is allow other people to run the offense. D’Angelo Russell has flourished in the point guard role and the Lakers need more of him originating the offense.
- For the Bucks their needs to do to win list is short. They need Kris Middleton to be healthy, take away the oppositions dribble drive and more Giannis and Damian pick and rolls.
Random Thoughts
5. Anybody that loves defense should watch the Knicks defend. They are excellent and that great defense works well with the fact that they have held the ball longer in each possession. The Knicks have reduced their total possessions per game by about ten during this stretch.
6. Rudy Gobert certainly knows how to put his foot in his mouth. Not only did his technical foul in the game against Cleveland cost his team the game, a game his team needs as they fight for the first seed in the Western Conference. Gobert doubled down by defending himself while talking about gambling. Gambling is already being spoken about during games often. NBA games are heavily sponsored by gambling sights. Gobert just put the spotlight on it something the NBA can’t be happy about.
7. Kudos to Daniel Gafford for making thirty-three shoots in a row. He came two shots away from setting the record. Perhaps the best part of this is he almost broke the great Wilt Chamberlain‘s record. This is just another indicator of how great Wilt was and it’s nice to hear people talking about him.
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