Kevin Durant Pinpoints Key Factor That Led to Heat’s Run to NBA Finals

The Heat’s hot shooting was not lost on the Suns star.

Kevin Durant is at it again on social media, responding to every fan under the sun who chooses to engage with him—for better or worse.

On Wednesday night, discourse broke out regarding the Heat’s run to the NBA Finals earlier this summer. Miami, which made an improbable run after being one game away from elimination in the play-in tournament, became the story of the NBA postseason after dispatching Milwaukee, New York and Boston en route to a Finals loss to the heavily favored Nuggets.

Durant responded to a fan who implied that defense wins championships. After tweeting at a fan “Offense wins u championships brother,” another fan chimed in by telling Durant that the Heat made it to the finals because of their “top-tier defense.” 

Naturally, Durant wasn’t having it.

“I would say the spike in 3pt percentage is a major reason the heat went to the finals,” Durant responded.

I would say the spike in 3pt percentage is a major reason the heat went to the finals https://t.co/KFcdoNESXM

— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) July 12, 2023

Durant may be on to something. Miami ranked 27th out of 30 NBA teams in three-point shooting in the regular season, converting at just a 34.4% clip as a team. In the playoffs though, the Heat became lethal from deep. Miami’s best effort came in the seven-game series win against the Celtics in which the Heat shot 43.4% from beyond the arc, well above its season average.

The shooting would only last for so long though. Some of Miami’s best shooters in its playoff run, including the likes of Max Strus, Gabe Vincent and Caleb Martin, were largely absent in the five-game defeat at the hands of the Nuggets. 

Miami ran into a much more well-rounded team in the NBA Finals, but Durant is correct in Heat’s hot shooting being the primary reason they made a championship run.