NBA Finals 2013: Miami Heat Starting Mike Miller Would Be Desperation Move

By Michael Moraitis--Featured Columnist
Follow Michael on Twitter: @michaelmoraitis

If the Miami Heat go ahead and decide to start Mike Miller in Game 4 of the NBA Finals while down 2-1 against the San Antonio Spurs, it would spell desperation for Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra.

According to ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst, the Heat could start Miller in place of the offensively struggling Udonis Haslem, who despite great defense during the series has become a liability on the offensive end.

The hope here is that Miami can spread the floor enough to make things tougher for the Spurs' talented defense and possibly open up the paint for guys like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. San Antonio has done an excellent job of keeping both out of the paint, so the Heat are adjusting.

In the minutes he's seen in this series, Miller has been lights out from beyond the arc, shooting 9-of-10 in the series and 10-of-11 from the field overall. His efficiency has been a stark contrast to what the Heat have been getting from the majority of its roster thus far in the Finals.

The real problem for the Heat in their two losses in this series has been a lack of offensive consistency from some of their best players--namely Bosh and Wade--who haven't exactly picked up the slack for James in this series.

Meanwhile, James himself has had issues scoring the basketball for Miami as the superstar has yet to break the 20-point mark in the series.

Miller's insertion into the lineup figures to help give Miami the easy looks it desires in the paint, but doesn't this team already have enough in its star-studded lineup to do that? Even if Miller is successful in draining some threes and spreading the floor, Wade and Bosh will still need to step up in their respective roles to help push this team over the top.


And, of course, James will need to be James, which is something we've yet to see in this series, at least from an offensive standpoint. All of this is must happen as clearly all the three-pointers Miller drained in Game 3 (five) weren't enough to get the job done by themselves.

Maybe Miller can help, maybe he can't. But one thing's for certain with this move: the Heat smell disaster in this series unless something changes quick, but I'm not so sure it's Mike Miller who can save the day against the Spurs.