Heat, Heat Baby

The Miami Heat continue to dominate every team in the NBA, but can they be stopped?

By Kyle Basedow

Yo, NBA, let’s kick it!

Or at least that’s what the Miami Heat said on February 3^rd, the beginning of their 23- game win streak.

Just saying the words “23-game win streak” is enough to strike fear into the hearts of every other NBA team.

No matter how much you hate LeBron James for leaving Cleveland, no matter how much you hate the Miami Heat for creating “The Big Three”, there’s no argument that you can make to take away a 23-game win streak.

AP Photo/ Phelan Ebenhack

Sure the 23-game win streak may intimidate some teams, but it also inspires something else in every team they play: desire. Every single team, from their top players to the owner(s) to the towel boys want to be the team that ends the streak, now the second longest in NBA history.

Every night the Miami Heat take the floor, they get the best from every team they play. Not only do they want a chance to show that they’re better than the reigning champions, they want a piece of history now too.

Now playing with all that desire is fine, but will it ever amount to anything? Can anything stop the way LeBron James and Dwayne Wade are playing? Jason Terry found out the hard way that they aren’t easy to slow down.

The level that the Heat are playing at, and sustaining every night, is amazing. They don’t have to be ahead the whole game, hell, they don’t even have to be ahead with two minutes left in the game. They just find a way to win.

However, despite how well they’re playing, they will eventually lose. There are a few games on their schedule that will cause the Heat some problems, most likely starting with the San Antonio Spurs.

Yes, that does mean that they will have to win their next six games. Yes, that does mean they play the Chicago Bulls in Chicago, in a nationally broadcast game. The Bulls, however, have gone 8-12 in their last 20 games, and the game should go easily to the Heat.

The game against the Spurs is probably the most challenging game left on their schedule. They play San Antonio on the road, at the end of a four-game road trip in which they have a game every other day.

San Antonio itself is easily one of the top teams in the NBA, with the second best record in the NBA behind the Heat, and at home they boast a 28-4 record, which is only behind Miami and the Denver Nuggets.

If they somehow escape San Antonio with a win, they could possibly face a tough challenge against the New York Knicks, a team who holds a 2-1 record against them and could have stars Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler at full health.

And if they somehow manage to get past both the Spurs and the Knicks, the only difficult game remaining would be a home game against the Boston Celtics.

It won’t be an easy stretch, but if the Heat can somehow navigate their way through these games, they will not only boast the longest win streak in NBA history, but be at nearly 1:1 odds at winning a consecutive NBA championship.

Maybe rap artist Vanilla Ice said it best in his hit song “Ice Ice Baby”.

“Take heed, 'cause I'm a lyrical poet

Miami's on the scene just in case you didn't know it”