- The Miami Heat is a team we can never underestimate. The Heat have a few things they need to do to win. First of all, I don’t think they have enough talent to go far in the playoffs, but like I said before, they always surprise you. The Heat need better health for their entire team. That means Tyler Herro needs to be his normal self and come back like the offensive threat he once was. Next is Jimmy Butler, he must become coherent and healthy. As a player, Butler, now 34, needs to play like he’s still in his prime and do it every night. Lately Terry Rozier we have to play better. Terry is shooting 29% from three, compared to the 35% he shot earlier this year with Charlotte.
- The Boston Celtics must do to win the list is not so much about the players but rather the ball movement. Every Celtics possession must be used to rotate the defense for an open shot. They have proven to be a good shooting team on wide open shots. When Boston is challenged, they resort to the iso ball. With that in mind, when it comes to the final shot with the game on the line, they need to have a better plan and then give it to Tatum and get out of his way.
- The Lakers may have found something when Lebron James was away. What the Lakers need to do to win is allow other people to run the offense. D’Angelo Russell has thrived in the point guard role and the Lakers need more of him behind the offense.
- For the Bucks, the list of their needs to win is short. They need Kris Middleton healthy, suppressing the opposition’s dribble and more pick and rolls from Giannis and Damian.
Random thoughts
5. Anyone who loves defense should watch the Knicks defend. They are excellent and this excellent 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 top seed in the Western Conference. Gobert doubled his bet by defending himself by talking about the game. We already often talk about the game during games. NBA games are heavily sponsored by gambling sites. Gobert just highlighted what the NBA can’t be happy about.
7. Congratulations to Daniel Gafford for having completed thirty-three shoots in a row. He came within two shots of setting the record. Maybe the best part was that he almost broke the big one Wilt Chamberlainthe folder. This is just another indicator of Wilt’s greatness and it’s nice to hear people talking about him.
