Can Anyone Dethrone King James and the Miami Heat?
At this point, it appears the only team that can dethrone the Heat are the Heat. Dwayne Wade is playing well and looks much healthier than he did in last season’s title run. The role players for the Heat simply continue to produce when called upon and Eric Spoelstra continues to be a steadying influence on the team. Oh yeah, they also have the best player on the planet in LeBron James. The Heat have recently acknowledged some chemistry issues early on this season, but there is no reason to believe those issues won’t be resolved.
Miami won’t have an easy road to the title as they will have to contend with two heated rivals in the Indiana Pacers and the Chicago Bulls. Despite their recent successes against both teams, eventually the Pacers and Bulls will close the gap and knock off the Heat. In fact, the Pacers look to be the class of the league in the early stages of the season. If the Heat survive a series against either the Pacers or Bulls, or possibly both, then they will likely run into the Oklahoma City Thunder, the LA Clippers, or the wily San Antonio Spurs. Will the LeBron and company have enough left in the tank to defend their title against up-tempo teams like the Clips and Thunder after being beaten up by their Eastern Conference rivals? We’ll know soon enough.
