After a gutsy overtime win the Heat are one win away from the NBA Finals, and they’re doing it as a team

SCOTT JACOBS

You are watching the makings of a machine.

Earlier in the year if Dwyane Wade or LeBron James had an off night, Miami lost.  It was simple as that.  The Heat were a two superstar express, with Chris Bosh riding shot-gun much of the season.  They couldn’t close out close games.  LeBron couldn’t hit the big shots.  No one on their supporting cast could be relied upon.  They looked like they weren’t ready as a team, to do what everyone knew they were capable of.

The post-season has a funny way of changing things don’t it?

Wade struggled much of the night in game 4.  But the Heat got 26 points combined from Mike Bibby, Mario Chalmers, and Mike Miller (who finally awoke from his season long coma and stretch of injuries to give Miami a huge fourth quarter).  Chris Bosh was actually the go-to guy for much of the fourth quarter and overtime, recording his third 20+ scoring game in this series, and LeBron was once again cool as the other side of the pillow.

Not only are they ready, but the Miami Heat are feeling it.  They can taste it now.  Yes, the series has been air tight, but the Heat have done 3 times what they couldn’t do once against the Bulls in the regular season: win, and win close.  They’ve also done what no team has done to the Bulls all year: send them to their third loss in a row.  The culmination has Miami flying sky high, one win away from a trip to The Finals that seemed so improbable during certain stretches of the season.

Think this team wants it after all the crap and pressure they’ve gone through this season?  Late in OT, Wade blocked a shot, LeBron dove to the floor, deflected it to Haslem, who threw it to Miller.  I expected Miami to be an offensive juggernaut.  At times this year they’ve flashed that potential.  But in a hotly contested defensive battle, it’s been Miami’s defense that has proven itself to be the real revelation.  Miami’s ball pressure is so tight and their ability to recover on defense so quick.  It’s no wonder they spun the Bulls into a turnover web, running Chicago roughshod into a 3-1 hole.

The doubters are now quiet.  Miami’s running on all cylinders, and if Mike Miller can play like this on a normal basis (12 pts, 9 rebounds) forget about it.  The true test of a championship team is if they can play defense, and win games when their stars aren’t always their best.  Wade was a shell of his usual spectacular self for much of the evening, but his teammates were there to pick up the slack, something that Miami could not rely on earlier this year.

The Heat are having fun, and they’re loving every minute of this wild ride in year one of The Experiment.

Miami has come a long way from the shaky unit that seemed to shrink when the games got close.  Now Miami does pressure better than any team in the league.  They have a system.  They have three guys who can be the hero on any given night.  On this night the offense went through Bosh.  It was pick and pop hoops with him and LeBron with some Miller sprinkled in.  Wade was a ghost.  I repeat, a ghost.

Which is precisely why you form this kind of trifecta.  The Heat would never have won a game last year if Wade played like this.

Which is why this team is different.  Scary different.

Their 5 man rotation in place, the revolving door that was Miami’s bit players has now been cemented.  The Heat have the guys they want.  They’re clicking.  It’s bad news for the Bulls who are riding Rose to exhaustion.  He has no one else to go to when the game gets late.

That used to be the problem for LeBron, Wade, and Bosh.

Now they have each other and a supporting cast that isn’t just there for show.

Now, they’re the show.

Photo: AP

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