Dion Waiters of the Miami Heat celebrates his three point shot in the final minutes of the game with teammate Wayne Ellington in the fourth quarter against the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center on January 25, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York C (Photo : Getty Images/Elsa)
When the Miami Heat, then one of the worst teams in the National Basketball League, won five straight games, including a nail-biting victory over the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 24, people believed it was sheer luck. But now that the Heat have cruised to their 10th straight win, they are not just turning heads but also slowly coming for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
At the end of 2016, the Heat had a 10-24 record to be the team with the most losses in the league. Fast forward today, Miami is now 21-30 and upped their place in the East from 14th to 12th. But what makes Miami's 10-game winning streak, the most in the NBA today, is that head coach Erik Spoelstra is dealing with a team that has no All-Stars.
Miami is just two games behind eighth seed Detroit Pistons and if the Heat's streak continues, they have a chance of barging into the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade without Dwayne Wade. Also, the Heat were dealt a big blow in the postseason after knowing that Chris Bosh still cannot fully function due to blood clotting in his lungs.
According to CBS Sports' Matt Moore, one of the biggest reasons of the Heat's dominance is Dion Waiters' excellent play. In the last 10 games, Waiters, who gave Miami a 105-102 win over the Warriors recently by sinking a three pointer at the buzzer, is averaging 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists on an impressive 51.2 clip from the field.
The Heat are looking to continue the streak as they plan on releasing forward Derrick Williams in order to hold on to emerging forward Okaro White, The Miami Herald reported. White had his second 10-day contract expire and the Heat chose to give him a two-year contract instead of giving another NBA team a chance to claim him.
Watch the video below of the Heat's rout of the Philadelphia 76ers:
