Rethinking the Heat

them as a team of destiny than as a squad that the Knicks could have—and should have— handled when they had the chance.

As a fan of the New York Knicks—both in the 1990s and today—this pains me greatly to say; for the rest of these NBA playoffs, I have to admit that I’m rooting for the Miami Heat.

Now don’t get me get wrong. The enmity I feel for the team from South Beach is a long-standing one, enduring from the Pat Riley defection through the Mike Miller-era and into today. I hate the Heat as much as a fan can, even despite the fact that the Knicks have played very few meaningful basketball games against that opponent given their relatively unimpressive history over the last 20 years.

But if Miami can close out the Celtics in impressive fashion and go on to top Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets in the NBA Finals?

I’d start feeling a whole lot better about the way they dismantled my team in the Eastern Conference Semis.

It’s a weird thing about sports that can cause a fan to openly cheer on a team—even one that the fan normally despises—in order to find solace in the end of a season. But in the case of this Miami team, I’d rather look at

Prior to the six-game series, it was hard to find anyone in the NYC area who viewed the Heat as a serious threat to knock off a Knicks team that “upset” the Cavaliers in five games. The Heat were banged up, the Knicks had the deeper bench, and it seemed nearly impossible that this Miami team full of cast-offs would have enough in the tank to send New York packing.

Of course, we couldn’t have been more wrong.

But it’s easier for us as fans to watch the Heat—with a roster of virtual unknowns and noted postseason assassin Jimmy Butler—have emerged as this sort of “team of destiny”. We can look at the Knicks’ struggles in the semis—of which there were many—and attribute them not to any shortcomings on the Knicks’ part, but to the fact that the Heat were a far tougher nut to crack than anyone had imagined.

They’ve certainly reinforced that narrative with an impressive first three games against Boston, which spent much of the regular season as one of the favorites to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy, and—as of press time—have used that same blueprint they used against the Knicks to build to a 3-1 series lead.

Does that mean the Knicks’ deficiencies aren’t real? Of course not! This isn’t a championship team and deep down, we as Knicks fans know that.

But rather than concerning ourself with how this team moves forward, it’s much easier to tip your cap to an opponent who was going to win either way.

They’ll be plenty of time for kvetching about our roster construction after the season. For now, I’m going to cheer on Riley, hoping that the end of the Knicks season was fait accompli rather than a collapse.

At this time of year, it’s all about whatever helps you sleep at night.

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