The Miami Heat are one win away from making it to their third consecutive NBA Finals and one step closer to a second consecutive title. The Heat dominated opponents during the regular season, and their Game 5 victory over the Indiana Pacers showed that they can handle adversity quite well.
Before the start of the 2013 NBA Playoffs, the Heat went on an impressive 27-game winning streak, which prompted people to ask if they could compete with the 1971-72 Lakers team. That roster set the NBA’s record for 33 victories in a row and ended up winning the title that same season.
—- Check out this wallpaper featuring the legends of Lakers basketball! —-
Led by LeBron James, this Heat team is trying to become one of the best of recent memory, and they are just five wins away from being in the conversation.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Lakers legend Jerry West, who was on the 71-72 team, said that he believes those Lakers could handle the 2012-13 Miami Heat.
“Obviously I want to say that we would win. I don’t know if that would be a fact or not,” iconic Lakers guard Jerry West told Bob Costas during a sit-down video interview. “It would be very interesting because they’re not a very good rebounding team and we were one of the best rebounding teams I’ve ever seen.”
“They have two magnificent players. We had a bunch of guys that were pretty good,” continued the Hall of Famer. “Selfishly, I’d like to think we could play with those guys.”
The Heat’s glaring weakness is their inability to dominate the paint, and if they believe Roy Hibbert is a lot to handle, they would stand no chance against the great Wilt Chamberlain. Nevertheless, the Heat have James in their arsenal, and it would be tough for the 71-72 Lakers to match his explosiveness.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
In case you missed it, be sure to check out what Phil Jackson had to say about Mike D’Antoni.
Don’t forget to click here to subscribe to our Lakers Nation YouTube Channel!
