NBA: LA Lakers and Miami Heat with two small “playoff miracles”

The playoff miracle continues! With the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat, two teams are currently in the process of making history in the North American basketball professional league NBA: Never before have teams that had to go the way of the so-called play-in format come so far . Her playoff journey doesn’t seem to be over yet.

“People will hate you, judge you, shake you, and try to break you. But how strong you are, that’s what makes you who you are.”said Lakers-Superstar LeBron James once in the usual pathetic words. How strong the four-time NBA–Champion actually still is, is shown once more this season.

With only two wins from the first twelve duels, they laid Lakers the worst start to the season of James’ career. Although the season lasted little more than a month, the belief in a successful course had generally already disappeared – the poor composition of the squad seemed too obvious.

At the same time, a team across the country was struggling with a very similar issue. Also the Miami Heat fell far short of their own expectations in the regular season. If you had reached the semi-finals last year, this time you even had to fight for the mere Playoff-Participation worried – the team had remained largely the same.

A trade against all worries

As we know today, both teams managed to turn things around – although they used two different recipes for success. Both Los Angeles Lakers it really needed a major overhaul. Former league MVP Russell Westbrook left the team for Utah. In return, ex-Lakers player D’Angelo Russell returned to the team. He should be exactly what the Lakers had been missing for so long: a respectable pitcher.

How much the team of this Trade benefited, was shown above all by the following results. Of the 26 games that the newly formed Lakers contested until the end of the regular season, James and Co. won a whopping 17. Only those Milwaukee Bucks had better statistics during this period.

Via the detour of the so-called Play-In-Tournament – a special format that has existed since 2020, in which the last Playoff-Tickets are awarded – in the end even made it into the main round. Here they sat down Lakers first against them Memphis Grizzlies (4:2) and now also against the current champion Golden State Warriors through (4:2). Upcoming opponents are now the Denver Nuggets.

Miami’s recipe for success: the playoff mode

Such a profound change in squad structure was at Miami however, never necessary. After all, we knew from the past few years that the team definitely had the potential to be successful. Only in the previous season was the entry into the Conference Finals, so the “semi-final” succeeded. There were no major changes within the team after that. So the dog must now be buried somewhere else.

Exactly where, that seemed until just before the beginning of the Playoffs not knowing yourself. “We absolutely have to find a solution”warned Team leader Jimmy Butler a few weeks earlier, “and as soon as possible”. But the spark didn’t jump over that quickly. Of the last eleven games of the season, six were lost again, the first Play-In-Duel against them Atlanta Hawks as well.

It was getting serious. And like in previous years, when things got serious and the pressure mounted, the team changed face. Playoffmode activated. The Chicago Bulls were left without a chance in the second play-in game Milwaukee Bucks – the best team of the regular season – they really showed off in just five games after that and so did they New York Knicks remained an answer to Jimmy Butler and Co. guilty. The turnaround was perfect, now it’s against the Boston Celtics.

A historic reunion

It’s been three years since they stood Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat last in the final of NBA-Playoffs across from. A new edition seemed almost impossible until a few weeks ago. Suddenly, it might just be a few days away.