Low-Seeded Lakers and Heat Dominate Playoffs with Defensive Prowess in a Record-Breaking NBA Season

The NBA has just finished its highest-scoring regular season in over five decades, with teams collectively scoring over 282,000 points and 20 players making at least 200 three-pointers. Despite the league being predominantly focused on offense, two lower-seeded playoff teams, the Lakers and the Heat, are currently surging towards the conference finals with dominant defense.

Both teams, led by seasoned veterans, have demonstrated exceptional defensive performances in the second round, taking 2-1 series leads. Miami and Los Angeles have been considered two of the best defensive teams in the league, despite the current offensive trend, and it's their defensive abilities that have put them in control of their respective series.

The Miami Heat hosted the Knicks and held them to just 86 points in their Game 3 victory on Saturday. Similarly, the seventh-seeded Lakers kept Golden State under 100 points, marking only the fifth time this season that the Warriors were held to under 100 points, resulting in a resounding 30-point victory. While these victories haven't decided either series, they have demonstrated the direction that the winners want to go in and how they want to get there.

The Lakers' opponents have an NBA-low shooting percentage of 41.3% in the postseason, with most of the credit going to Anthony Davis. He has blocked 37 shots in LA's nine playoff games, altered countless others, and is playing with the defensive fire that he demonstrated during the Lakers' 2020 championship run in the bubble.

The Heat's Jimmy Butler has been on a tear, even with his ankle at less than 100%. He has scored at least 25 points in all seven of his appearances in this postseason, which is the second-longest such streak in Heat history, second only to LeBron James' 15 games of at least 25 points during his first championship run in 2012.

Miami's head coach, Erik Spoelstra, wants his players to rest and recover before the next game. While the players are encouraged to engage in off-day activities, they understand that they have to keep their minds off the game to recover fully.

The current NBA playoffs have been quite exciting, with two defensive-minded teams taking the lead in the second round. The Lakers and the Heat are proving that defense still has a place in the league, despite the offensive trend in recent years.