The 2012-13 Miami Heat ranked among the 25 most dominant NBA teams
The 2012-13 Miami Heat featured one Hall of Famer and three future ones.
The team led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Ray Allen is easily the franchise's greatest, but where does it fall in NBA history? The Athletic recently attempted to rank the 25 most dominant teams based on a metrics formula that included stats such as point differential, postseason record, etc.
The Heat checked in at No. 17. They finished a league-best 66-16 and defeated the San Antonio Spurs for their second straight championship. The highlight of the season was a 27-game winning streak, trailing only the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers' 33 straight victories.
"There were times during that regular season when the LeBron James-Dwyane Wade-Chris Bosh ‘Heatles’ were living up to all the hype, most notably when they pulled off a 27-game winning streak from early February to late March," The Athletic's Sam Amick wrote. "It’s the second-longest such stretch in league history, but the one-sidedness of it all was not a precursor of what was to come. Their title path was hard."
The Heat rolled past the Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls in the first two rounds before two difficult series. They needed seven games to defeat the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals and were on the brink of elimination against the Spurs before winning Game 7 of the Finals at home.
Despite three championships, the 2012-13 team was the only Heat entry on the list. The Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Bulls and Lakers were among the franchises with multiple selections.
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