Heat

Heat’s Kevin Love Uses Cavs’ 3-1 Rally in 2016 as Example It Can Be Done

June 12, 2023

It’s all but over, most everyone is saying about the Finals. After all, the Heat trail the Nuggets, 3-1, in the series.

Game 5 is Monday night in Denver.

But Heat power forward Kevin Love knows all about those types of deficits. Only one team has ever overcome 3-1 to win the championship — none other than the 2016 LeBron James-led Cavaliers.

None other than Love was a key member of that team. So it can be done. Love has experienced it.

He sent out a reminder about it as the Heat aim to make all kinds of history. They’re already just the second No. 8 seed to reach the Finals (joining the 1999 Knicks) and the first to do so via the play-in tournament.

“I think there’s a lot to be taken from that situation,” Love said, via Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “Naturally, when your back is up against the wall, you start to look for answers, solutions. But we’re a team that has been super resilient.”

Does it seem likely the Heat will match the Cavs and win three straight? No, not really.

Then again, this Miami team has been beating the odds the entire playoffs.

“Everybody is counting us out. We’re used to that,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But ultimately it has to be decided between those four lines. The crowd is not going to decide it. The narratives are not going to decide it.

“Whatever the analytics are about 3-1, that ain’t going to decide it. It’s going to be decided between those four lines, whose game can get to whose game and ultimately win at the end. That’s what our guys love. So we’re looking forward to it.”