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It could be the last game in this playoff series for the Miami Heat and the Charlotte Bobcats. The Heat are up 3-0 in the best out of seven series, and are looking to sweep the Bobcats tonight. Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra says it’s great to be up in the series, but that his team still needs to be mentally prepared.
“You have to deal with so many challenges in the playoffs. You would like to have this kind of challenge. The mental challenge is staying with it. Now you don’t want a series to go on longer than it needs to and leave it up to chance, but it starts with out prep, and it starts with our approach.”
Miami had an easy win in Game 3 with a final score of 98-85. Heat power forward LeBron James had an impressive 30 points, while shooting guard Dwyane Wade added 17 points to the scoreboard. Wade says that being up 3-0 means that they have to keep the Bobcats on the ropes.
“I think the biggest thing is us knowing that you don’t want to give another team life. I don’t care what that may be, you just don’t want to give them that confidence, that life, because you never know what can happen. Say you’re up 3-0, you lose the next one, you go back home and it’s not guaranteed that you’re going to to win that one, and now you’re in a dogfight. So as much as possible, once you have a team on the ropes, you want to try and keep them there, and not let them come back up.”
While there is still hope for the Bobcats in this series, they understand the challenges they are going to have to face. Bobcats center Al Jefferson says that his team is going up against three top 10 players in the NBA, so they need to limit their mistakes as much as possible. Charlotte head coach Steve Clifford says it’s daunting to play against a team who plays so well together.
“To me, as difficult as they are to guard, it’s daunting to be honest with you because of not only their talent level, but I just think they play so well with each other and to their strengths. It really starts with not turning the ball over.”
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