Lay it up: Can any Western Conference team defeat the Miami Heat in a seven-game series?
Jeremy Bauman: Yes. Though Miami has been nearly unbeatable during this 20-game (and counting) win streak, there are three teams in the West that can compete and potentially beat Miami:
Oklahoma City: They’ve been cruising of late and are probably waiting until right around playoff time to switch gears to turn up. I don’t condone this but they’re a young team that went to the Finals last season. If Kevin Durant got that foul call at the end of Game 2 last year in OKC, that series would’ve been a lot different. They can compete and take the Heat to the edge.
San Antonio: The ultimate team. Even without Parker for an extended period, they’ll compete for the best record in the NBA. They have Tiago Splitter and Tim Duncan up front and could push Miami to the brink and beyond… If they can get through the West first.
Memphis: They’ve won 14-of-15 games, albeit against mediocre to lower level teams for the most part, but they’ve proven that they haven’t let the Rudy Gay trade close their championship window. Nobody in the Western Conference wants to play against Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol up front. You can bet the quick-paced Heat don’t want to see them, either.
Maxwell Ogden: The Miami Heat remain the favorites to win it all, and quite frankly, that won’t and should not change. The fact of the matter is, the San Antonio Spurs are deep and the Memphis Grizzlies are running through the NBA at a similar pace to the what the Heat are currently doing.
In a seven-game series, as Jeremy noted above, Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter would own a significant advantage over Miami’s interior. Tony Parker comes in over Mario Chalmers and Manu Ginobili would neutralize Dwyane Wade—with an endless bench, the Spurs have a real shot.
Furthermore, Memphis has won 14 of their past 15 games. With Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol down low, as well as an elite defense, this is the type of team that could take Miami down.
Even still, the Heat are the favorites to win it all. Some teams can, but it’s doubtful that they will.
Ben Baroff: The road to beating Miami will be daunting for any NBA team if the Heat can secure home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, which they are likely to do with Tony Parker sidelined.
This does note bode well for Oklahoma City. This is a certainly a team talented and athletic enough to hang with and beat Miami, but likely need home court to do it.
The Heat are a league-best 30-3 at home this season, and since the start of last season the Thunder have lost five straight in Miami.
But much like we’ve seen with the Celtics, the Spurs have proven they can play anywhere, and are more than capable of stealing a game or two in Miami, although it would be hard to imagine anybody winning a closeout game in South Beach.
Let’s not forget Miami has not seen this Spurs team at full-strength yet, either. Last year these two teams only played once because of the lockout shortened season and Miami turned a 52-35 deficit into a lopsided 120-98 win, making a ridiculous 16 3-pointers in the process.
When the Spurs traveled back to Miami this season, we all remember how Gregg Popovich sat his big three and the Spurs took Miami down to the wire.
Strange things happen when these two get together, so you can’t rule anything out.