For the past two years, the Miami Heat have managed to keep their title as NBA championships. However, can they do it for a 3rd year in a row? With the big 3 (James, Wade, and Bosh) playing excellently the whole season and coming back for the playoffs, many have high hopes for this year’s championship title.

The Heat’s first game of the playoffs was on April 20th, in which they beat the Charlotte Bobcats (score 88-99). They will continue to play best four out of seven games and proceed to play another team if they win this round.

“I think that the Heat are going to win again this year because they had a really good season and they’ve just been improving their strategies and getting better,” said freshman, Eva Rhodas.

In past playoffs, the Heat have come up with strategies and game plans that practically guaranteed a win. But this year, since there are many factors that have gone unnoticed from the team, they will have to change some things up. The Heat had a really good season, even though they didn’t have the best defense in some tough games. They have been playing around with their defense this season due to the loss of players.

When Lebron James joined Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade in 2010, his goal was to win many NBA championships with his team. But this year, there are many things that can get in the way of the Heat’s third consecutive championship title.

1. One of the most important factors that can harm the team is the team itself. Not many of the players have been changed to other teams, but the loss of Mike Miller could affect the team.
2.  Another factor that will affect the team is the fact that many players that got injured in the past seasons are coming back fully recovered and ready to play.
3. One last thing that is affecting how the Heat’s overall performance on the court is how the big 3 are playing. Wade’s past knee surgery negatively affected his game, decreasing his shooting average. Bosh’s shooting average also decreased; he’s been taking more rebounds (which are also helping them) instead of taking free throws.

“Although the Heat are playing around with their defense and stuff, I don’t think they should do anything that will put them in risk of losing a game,” said freshman, Judith Ramos.

Even with the new players that were added this season, the heat are still in the running for the NBA championship. If the Heat does win the championship this year, they will be the first team to have reached the finals over consecutive years since 1987. The last two teams to have done this were the Los Angeles Lakers, who had won the title three consecutive years in 2000-2002, and the Boston Celtics, who reached the finals four consecutive times in 1984-1987.