Irresistible Choletais! After a match played from start to finish, Laurent Vila’s men finally overcame Boulogne-Leva… ah uh no. Lots of games tonight, minds are a bit tangled, but Victor Wembanyama is not the source of all the issues. At least not this one: the Heat defeated New York, the first squad that will host the 2023 Eastern Conference Final is that of Erik Spoelstra.
The pretty homemade boxscore is HERE!
The faces are closed, they almost reap the qualifier of “burial heads” : it feels like a family meal where the grandfather has not chewed his meat enough.
If Jimmy Butler and his friends at the Heat do not fall into euphoria, it is because they have already experienced this situation in the past. Winners 4 to 2 of the Knicks from a very deserving Jalen Brunson (41 points at 14/22 shooting), the Floridians reach the Eastern Conference Final again, a year after having lost it against Boston. More generally, it is third conference final in four years for Erik Spoelstra’s squad. Not enough to uncork a Romanée-Conti, so the most dubious Chardonnay will do.
Tonight, no Miami player has surpassed the 24-point mark : a very symptomatic stat of a Heat which, by its obsession for the defense, sometimes forgets to ensure the spectacle on the other side of the floor. It’s effective, it feels a little like May 2005 and Bam Adebayo feeds on scrap metal and installing screens, but it works. May Jimmy Butler still revoke beyond 24 points to 7/22 in shooting (relentless defense) to offer us a conference final worthy of the most legendary clashes of postseason. Or better: the series against Milwaukee. Its best version remains the one that ensures the work of the shade while taking the light. We must not be satisfied with the discreet Butler on the score sheet but present in the hearts: this one will not be enough. We could go further by mentioning that he did not exceed 28 points in this series against New York (he who sent 37.6 points on average in the previous round), but that’s a bit of a killjoy. That is not the lesson of the moment. Miami finished 8th in the regular season and just bought a second upset in as many series. The arrows are not lacking in the quiver of Erik Spoelstra: Kyle Lowry poses daron Playoffs, Max Strus meticulously honors his role as sharpshooter, Bam Adebayo – against Mitchell Robinson – regained color. It’s party time. For the 3-point success of the Heat on the series (30.5%), we will see later.
Note: there are only two NBA teams, in history, to have been in the conference finals by starting the Playoffs in 8th place. The Heat of 2023… and the Knicks of 1999.
The Heat will do it.
Eighth in the East at the start of the Playoffs.
Upset contre Milwaukee.
Upset contre New York.
Miami returns to the Conference Finals.
It’s very very strong, and deserved! 👏👏👏
— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) May 13, 2023
Long match, series sometimes at the same pace, but a qualification which – if Jimmy Butler reactivates the Milwaukee mode – could arrange the entertainment of our future nights.
2023-05-13 03:57:29
#Heat #Knicks #Miami #ends #York #Jimmy #Butlers #band #reaches
