Buzzer-Beater Blunder

As Dwyane Wade’s potential game-winning shot sailed from the front rim to the bottom of the backboard and into Kevin Garnett’s hands, the Miami Heat once again were unable to execute their half-court offense. This time, it was in one of the most crucial possessions of the Eastern Conference Finals thus far. Coincidentally, the Heat had an opportunity to take the final shot of all 5 periods and failed on each one of them. In the first quarter, LeBron James threw a bad pass out of bounds with 1.8 seconds to go. Then, after Rondo missed a 29-foot three-pointer at the buzzer of the first quarter, Miami missed the next four buzzer-beaters. The even more problematic element of this predicament is that none of the four shots by the Heat were attempted from closer than 18 feet. At the end of the second quarter, Mike Miller missed a 20-foot jump shot. Then in the second half, Wade failed to hit a running 3-pointer and Udonis Haslem misfired on a fadeaway jumper. Finally, in overtime, Wade created space with a pump fake on Marquis Daniels, but missed the deep shot.



Since Game 2, the Boston Celtics have been able to score effectively in many different ways. By taking advantage of Garnett’s size inside and Rondo’s overall speed, the team has had some amazing offensive quarters. Boston took Game 3 by a larger margin because they won the points in the paint battle. Conversely, the Celtics did not do so in Game 4, which made for a tougher sprint to the finish. In the first 15 minutes of the game, they amazingly hit their first 6 of 8 three-point attempts, including back-to-back ones from Keyon Dooling on consecutive possessions. The Celtics then proceeded to make only 1 of their next 11 from deep. Overall, they finished 9 of 27 and 3 of their final 19 from beyond the arc. While the men in green were firing on all cylinders early on, the outside shooting could have been the primary reason for the team’s devastating loss. In spite of all this, the Celtics held on for the victory.



When it came to making buzzer-beaters, the Heat came up short in Game 4, but the third component of Miami’s Big 3 could return to the floor when they land back in South Beach. It remains to be seen what Chris Bosh can provide for the losers of two straight. While some analysts may argue that Bosh’s injury has allowed James and Wade to take control and make the Heat offense better, one cannot help but wonder if his presence will boost Miami’s chances of making the NBA Finals for the second consecutive season. He can act as another Heat scorer who can make his own shot while also providing size on the defensive end. Therefore, no one should take his return lightly.