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The Miami Heat were the surprise package of last season's NBA playoffs. Led by notoriously competitive Jimmy Butler, the Heat worked hard to battle past higher seeds Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics to face the LA Lakers in the Finals. They have a strong roster that works hard on both ends of the floor and has several options on offense. Talking to ESPN, their star forward was optimistic about their chances as underdogs yet again.
Jimmy Butler ready to disprove doubters and help the Miami Heat back to the NBA Finals
In his first season with the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler was able to live up to his preseason prediction stating that he would make it to the NBA Finals. Written off again looking ahead to this season, Butler was his usual confident self on ESPN's The Jump when discussing the Heat's chances of repeated success. When asked how Miami can get back to the Finals, Jimmy Butler had this to say:
"We do what we're supposed to do. Not listen to everybody on the outside, which I preach every single day. We're not worried about them, lets lock in on us and play our best version of basketball that we can. We'll get back there and we know what to do."
The Miami Heat built their success last season on a one-for-all offensive and defensive strategy where they shared the ball and had multiple points of attack. This made it very difficult for teams to guard them as they had various players contributing off the bench as well as from the starting lineup, led by Jimmy Butler. On the other end, Miami had the fourth-best defensive rating prior to their Eastern Conference Finals in the NBA playoffs.
The Heat's defensive capabilities weren't enough ultimately to overcome the LA Lakers in their Finals series, being comfortably beaten over six games by LeBron et al. Furthermore, their offense was a shadow of what it had been. Despite missing stars Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic for the majority of the matchup, the Heat will need to be more potent offensively if they are to make the NBA Finals once again.
With rising stars Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo alongside Jimmy Butler and Dragic, the Miami Heat have what it takes to make the NBA Finals this year. Looking throughout the East though would suggest their journey there won't be a certainty. Getting past a fully fit KD and Kyrie at Brooklyn and an improved Milwaukee Bucks will be hard enough on top of the usual frustrating Celtics and 76ers. Jimmy Butler will have to be at his best once again and perhaps even improve on his 19.9 points and 6 assists he averaged last season if they are to make it there.
Guess the Lakers players!
