The stats for Miami Heat vs Denver Nuggets are kind of hilarious

I think that most NBA fans, if you were to ask them who would be in the NBA final that almost nobody that was thinking clearly would have ever suggested that the Miami Heat would be there. By the middle of the season it appeared as though Miami wouldn't even go to the post season and even when that time came they barely made the playoffs at all. They were not automatically in the tournament and even during the "play-in" portion of the thing it appeared as though they would be going home early. It is a statistical anomaly the likes of which we rarely see in sports that they are in the final. They defied all odds and Vegas lines to make it past the first, second, and third round. Things got a bit dicey with the Celtics in the semis but eventually they pulled it off. It is a damn miracle that they are in the final and once again, the Vegas lines are starkly against them.

I dug a bit deeper wondering WTF is going on with the Heat and how this is even possible and honestly, when you look at the stats it makes zero sense that they are here.

src

In order to understand the stats that I will present momentarily it is very important that you understand that these are compiled from all games up to this point including the games in the tournament where Miami magically transformed from a very "middle of the table" team into one of the best teams in the NBA.

Also, in order to understand how absolutely average or even terrible that Miami was during the regular season, it is important to note that there is a grand total of 30 teams in the entire NBA.

src

The Heat are dead last in two statistics among all the teams in the NBA and they are damn close to being the worst in the entire NBA in a number of the other ones. It is amazing, and likely unheard of in the past, for a team that statistically this bad to make it to the final dance. I mean, other than free throws, which are indeed a very important part of the game, there is no good reason why Miami would make it past the first round of the playoffs. If you were to present this information to anyone without having it labeled and ask anyone how far they think this team would make it in the playoffs I think that most sane people would probably say that they don't think they would make the playoffs at all.

In game one Denver looked like an absolutely superior team handily defeating Miami by 11 points. Honestly, if Denver had kept their foot on the gas for the 4th quarter they likely could have won the game by 15 or even 20 points but as is typical in NBA games the coaches need to think about the long game and keeping players as fresh as possible for upcoming games. The Nuggets outscored The Heat in ever single quarter except the 4th where Denver had put nearly every starter on the bench and appeared to be simply trying to run down the clock. At no point in time did it appear as though Miami was mounting a comeback. When you enter the 4th quarter 21 points in the lead, you don't really have to work very hard to win that game.

I'm not a big believer in home court advantage but game two takes place in Miami. If the Heat put on a similar performance then, this thing could be over really quickly.

I still enjoy watching the games but it is times like this where Miami may not actually have an answer. Is Denver really that good or is Miami's lucky streak simply over. I hope that this doesn't end 4-0 but if Thursday's game is any indication as to what is up and coming. It doesn't look good for the Heat.