Miami Heat Hope To Follow The Florida Panthers' Lead By Securing Berth In Finals

The Florida Panthers are going to their first Stanley Cup Finals since 1996.

Florida Panthers fans, the wait is over.

What was thought of to be a short playoff run ended up a journey to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Panthers swept the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference finals to advance to their first Finals in nearly three decades.

Perhaps they can inspire their South Florida basketball counterparts to do the same. The Miami Heat look to close out their series against the Boston Celtics Thursday night. Heat fans are asking their team to take notes from their fellow athletes.

Your turn

— 𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙏 𝙉𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 (@HeatvsHaters) May 25, 2023

US TOMORROW

— orangie (@orangie) May 25, 2023

They won’t sweeping their opponent, but South Florida will welcome Finals appearances no matter the journey.

Like the Panthers, the Heat have something to prove to those on the outside with their improbable postseason run. Even with a 3-1 lead, some are already starting to suggest Miami may end up losing the series and become the first team in NBA history to blow a 3-0 series lead.

They’ll need to replicate the performances of Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk. Tkachuk scored a goal with less than five seconds in regulation, his third winning shot of the series.

When Jimmy Butler wore Thachuk’s jersey before his winning shot in Game 1, people were saying Butler blessed the Panthers with good luck. Now, he may want to put it back on to get some of Thachuk’s luck toward the Heat.

Maybe it can inspire Butler to have a clutch performance of his own. Otherwise, Thachuk’s jerseys may be filling South Florida faster than his.

Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.