A crowd of about 13,000 fans hadn’t even broken-in their LeBron James No. 6 Heat jersey’s when the sound coming through the amplifiers resonated against the walls of the American Airlines arena. The video on the jumbotron presented a dramatic display of images, each accentuated by drum beats that sent the Miami faithful in an uproar.
It was like as if at any moment Will Smith was going to pop out and perform his south beach anthem with the Heat dancers singing in the background, “Welcome to Miami.”
Hold up, can we back that up just a little bit? You mean to tell me the Heat’s grand display of exaggerated video promotions and pyrotechnics was not a championship celebration, rather a welcome party? No they didn’t.
“Yes.We.Did.”
The new-look Heat danced together on stage, answered questions and beamed with delight as the crowd went wild. There was no championship trophy, no sigh of relief after having experienced the blood, sweat and tears associated with winning a title, no ring to show for and no anticipated meet-up with the commander in chief. Without having so much as hitting the hardwood or fighting for position at tip-off, the Heat became the wannabe-defending champs—daring the rest of the league to step up and dethrone them.
The only thing the Heat accomplished last summer was inking a deal that linked three former franchise players—LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade. Nothing more, nothing less and certainly not meriting the pedestal they were so quickly perched up on by the media.
Next: The Lakers fly under the radar as they get bumped to second-best
But what of the defending, no wait, two-time defending champs? Angelino’s hadn’t even began to disburse along Figueroa Street before ESPN scribes were penciling in the Heat to play whomever came out atop the Western Conference in the 2011 NBA Finals. With all the attention focused on the Promised Land, the place where LeBron would “take his talents to,” the Lakers were placed on the back-burner. Never had a post-championship-Lakers squad gone so far under the radar.
Kobe Bryant recently told ESPN’s Michael Wilbon that he wasn’t bothered by the accolades bestowed upon the Heat or that they were garnering all the attention.
“I don’t play the game for attention…that’s not a motivating thing,” said Bryant. “It’s winning it, that’s motivation for me. It’s not all the hoop-la that comes before winning it. That doesn’t drive me at all.”
Wilt Chamberlain once said, “Nobody loves Goliath.” It’s well documented that Chamberlain never had problems finding love and for the most part, the public sentiment for James leading up to “The Decision,” had been pleasant. It only took 60 minutes for that to change. The big three’s decision to play together under one roof made them go from hero to zero. That is at least outside of South Beach.
Next: The Heat’s early struggles
The Miami Heat were instantly expected to compete for a championship even as the elephant still lingered in the room. How would the three superstars find a way to play together, let alone complement one other?
Not having the luxury of playing with each other for the majority of the preseason, the first 17 games of the season were not kind to James and Co. The team that was supposed to beat the Bulls’ all-time regular season wins record, was just over 500 with nine wins and eight loses. A re-tweaked offensive strategy, players-only meeting and bromance over surviving the hostility of LeBron’s return to Cleveland later, the Heat went on a tear, winning 12-straight games before losing to the Dallas Mavericks by just two points.
The more and more the Heat steam-rolled through the sub-500 teams, combined with the Lakers recent string of lack-luster efforts, the more convinced people were becoming the Heat’s three-man show was prepared to dominate the Lakers come December 25th.
I realize that trying to argue the Lakers as underdogs against any team is like Kim Kardashian attempting to convince the free world that she’s never known a man in the biblical sense, but the way the Lakers have been unable to consistently play at a high level adds a little intrigue to the comparison.
Next: For the Lakers, playing smarter basketball leads to winning
But are the Lakers really playing David to the Heat’s Goliath? Well, sort of.
Literally speaking, this game really is a tale of two Goliath’s, one the result of a conglomeration of offensive-prowess (the Heat), the other having been formed organically by piecing players with complementing talents and skills strategically (the Lakers).
In order for the Lakers to come out on top, they’ll have to be productive on all cylinders. Consider the old adage, work smarter, not harder. In essence, the Lakers will have to progressively break down the Heat just before releasing the last stone from the sling shot to bring down Goliath.
The Heat come into this game first in points allowed, at 91.5 points per game, meaning the Heat’s defense is more cohesive. They’ve stifled opponents during the past month by clamping down on passing lanes, applying heavy ball pressure and practicing good communication. You may see either LeBron or Wade play defense from behind to block a shot or steal the ball, allowing them to take off in transition—mainly monster dunks or easy layups at the other end. Good teams will take advantage of the gamble on defense, and yes we can still assume the Lakers are a good team, but communication and hustle down the floor to get back in transition become all the more important against the Heat.
It took a little while, but Miami has finally figured out an offensive strategy that generates momentum-swinging runs with relative ease. This isn’t the first time we’ve, ahem, witnessed James in action, we all know that he’s a beast at getting to the rim so the Lakers cannot risk being careless with the basketball as turnovers can lead to a flurry of fast-break points for the Heat.
If the Lakers can take the Heat out of their offensive rhythm early and not let them hang around enough to make it interesting around the fourth quarter, the Heat will eventually be bogged down by the Lakers inner size and strength. Rebounds will be hard to come by for the Heat and if Bosh plans on reliving his days as a non-factor, this game will be over before it starts.
Next: The Lakers know the importance of the matchup against the Heat
As is the characteristic of the classic underdog, the Lakers enter the game with essentially nothing to lose. Even if the Lakers lose, they still hold the cards, still get to make goo-goo eyes at the O’Brien trophy and Lawrence Tanner will still get to say “World Champion” before he announces the team. It’s no secret that the Heat need a win against the Lakers more than the Lakers need a win against the Heat.
“We’ve gotten rocked on Christmas day and won a championship,” recalled Bryant. “We’ve done the rocking on Christmas day and won a championship. [The result] doesn’t matter, one way or another it’s all about how you improve as the season goes on.”
So the result doesn’t matter? No really, the Lakers going on an 8-0 run to start the season, even without their starting center Andrew Bynum, had absolutely nothing to do with sending a message out to the league that the championship went through them, not the Heat. When Phil Jackson compared the Heat’s mega free agent signings to when the Lakers signed Wilt Chamberlain to combine with Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, but after four years together never won a title, it was just a random thought. We all know Coach Jackson would never purposely take a jab at someone.
It’s not like the Lakers make a habit out of looking at the schedule to circle what teams they’re going to make a concerted effort to dismantle ahead of time, but Christmas day against the Miami Heat—it’s circled.
If you think the Lakers consider their Christmas day showdown against the Heat just another game in an 82-game season, you must’ve had too much eggnog. The Lakers care and they want to bring the Heat back down to Earth.
I’m calling your bluff Mamba, happy holidays.