The NBA Playoffs standings has the Miami Heat into the next round in the eastern conference finals for the fourth straight season after defeating the Nets in the second round and they will play against the Indiana Pacers or the Washington Wizards as LeBron James, Chris Bush and Dwyane Wade try to win their third NBA championship in a row.
The NBA has been thrilled about the matchups in the playoffs and the prospect of the Miami Heat facing either the Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs has all types of storylines. Miami defeated those two teams for the NBA championship over the past two seasons after losing to the Dallas Mavericks and those could get some huge ratings depending on what plays out in the finals. James played fantastic in the series against the Nets and he was the main reason they won Game 4 and he made clutch plays down the stretch in Game 5 to clinch the series win.
James led the Heat in scoring with 29 points in the last game and he had nine rebounds, while Mario Chalmers had seven assists and that came after James scored 49 points in the previous win. James was tops on the team during the season with 27 points, nearly seven rebounds and six assists per game and he is trying to push his team to a third straight NBA title. Much has been made of the fact that James can opt out after this season as a free agent, but he likely will be staying with the Heat and that will be even more likely to happen if the team wins another championship.
Miami dominated the fourth quarter of the game against the Nets after they allowed Brooklyn to outscore them in the second and third quarters and they ended up pulling back into the game with a 30-19 run in the final frame. The Pacers and the Wizards played a back and forth series and the Clippers and Thunder had a controversial finish to their Game 5 matchup after it appeared Oklahoma City got the benefit of some calls from the referees. Kevin Durant and Russell westbrook led the way in that game and they are looking to get back to the finals to try and beat LeBron after losing a couple years ago and it would be fitting this year if they got back after Durant won the MVP over James.
