"Miami does not want to play Boston" -- Bucher

[angryguy77]

I don't think you can say we would have won the series if Rondo wasn't hobbled, but it would have gone to 6 games at least.

That's true, we still might have lost, but I don't think it's fair to use last year's series as an indication of how this year's series would go if we play them.

Look how close those games were at the end, I think a healthy rondo helps put a few more points on the board and we overcome the ridiculous shooting that James and D "dirt bag" wade throw up. But that's just my opinion and I admit that I could be wrong.

I just don't see Rondo as being to overcome KG, Pierce, and Allen's old age.  The old men were just worn down and couldn't close games.  I think Rondo would have helped, but he wouldn't have made that much of a difference.  The old guys are old and played like it last year.  They seem to have more bounce in their step thus far this post season, but they also aren't playing a physical team like Miami, which I think has a great deal to do with the age rearing its ugly head last year.  Don't get me wrong, I would love to be wrong, but I just can't see Boston beating Miami unless Lebron is injured.

It will be tough for sure, but I see it as a 50/50 chance that we come out on top this year if we don't get completely hosed by the refs and stay healthy.

In the end, I really won't be surprised at either outcome.

I 

[Smitty77]

Fafnir,

You mentioned that NY gave up a lot of points at the FT line.  Is fouling good defense?  I am nit-picking, but NY simply is NOT a top 5 defensive team.  You might have an argument that they are a top 12 or perhaps even a lower tier top 10 defensive team.

That is all I can give you:-))

Smitty77

[Celts Fan 92]

As Skip Bayless has said, Paul Pierce owns LeBron James.

He really doesn't. He guards him as well as anyone, especially with KG to back him up, but he doesn't own him at all.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=piercpa01&p2=jamesle01#stats_playoffs::none

just looked at dis, owns is a stretch but Pierce is Lebrons biggest rival despite wat the media says

[nickagneta]

Can Moranis please talk to us more about this great depth that Miami has over last year because I'm not seeing it?

I will admit that their bench might be as good as last years but I don't think it any better and think it might be worse.

Miami's playoff starters this year

LeBron
Wade
Bosh
Chalmers
Haslem

Miami's playoff starters last year

LeBron
Wade
Bosh
Bibby
Anthony/Ilgauskas - Ilgauskas wasn't used or was hurt and stopped playing

Miami's playoff rotational bench this year

Battier
Miller
Anthony
Jones - very little playing time
Cole - very little playing time

Miami's playoff rotational bench last year

Miller
Anthony - stopped coming off the bench once Ilgauskas stopped playing
Jones
Haslem
Chalmers
House - very little playing time
Howard - very little playing time

So two of last year's bench players, Haslem and Chalmers, have graduated to the starting lineup, mostly because Bibby is gone and Anthony isn't playing anywhere near the level that he flashed at the end of last year.

Jones' role has been replaced by Battier and Eddie House's role by Norris Cole.

I see a very similar overall skill set on this year's playoff bench with zero good bigs coming off the bench, whereas last year at least Haslem was coming off the bench. I also see a lack of experience coming off the bench instead of vets like Juwan howard and Eddie House I see Joel Anthony and Norris Cole.

Maybe it's just me but I don't see this great increase in bench strength that Moranis is talking about. I still see the Heat's top players playing big minutes even though they absolutely crushed the Knicks in two out of the three games they have played this off season. To me that's a sign of a bad bench.

[Fafnir]

Fafnir,

You mentioned that NY gave up a lot of points at the FT line.  Is fouling good defense?  I am nit-picking, but NY simply is NOT a top 5 defensive team.  You might have an argument that they are a top 12 or perhaps even a lower tier top 10 defensive team.

That is all I can give you:-))

Smitty77

A lot of points is relative, they played the 5th fastest pace in the league and gave up 24 FTA per game.

For comparison the C's played at a pace ranked 21st in the NBA and gave up 22.7 FTA per game.

A common feature of teams that force a lot of turnovers is that they tend to foul more frequently than other defenses. The Lakers give up the fewest free throws per shot attempt and force the fewest turnovers, that isn't a coincidence.

Once again when the opposing team has the ball 100 times to play against the Knicks then the opposing team scored the fifth fewest points in tne league this year.

They're a top 5 defense, and your nitpicking about individual statistical categories is missing the forest for the trees.

You can be a good defensive team multiple four basic ways (the four factors, though more goes into good defense):

1. Make opponents miss (eFG)
2. Prevent opponents from shooting (TOV)
3. Prevent opponents from getting offensive rebounds (DRB)
4. Prevent opponents from getting to the free throw line (FTA/FGA)

I'd add a fifth thing that I like to look at:

5. Force opponents to take inefficient shots (limit 3 point shots and shots at the rim this shows up in eFG% but I think its worth a separate look)

The Knicks are:

1. 12th in the league (eFG%)
2. 2nd in the league (TOV%)
3. 12th in the league (DRB%)
4. 23rd in the league (FTA/FGA)

The Celtics are:

1. 2nd in the league (eFG%)
2. 4th in the league (TOV%)
3. 20th in the league (DRB%)
4. 19th in the league (FTA/FGA)

You can be a good defense while being bad or average in any individual category.

[theswitch]

I'm both worried and not worried about this potential matchup. If Spoelstra play everyone straight up on their position, then I think we have a decent shot because there's no answer for Rondo. If he puts Wade on Rondo and Chalmers on Avery, then we might have a situation on our hands. Or, he could mimic his Chicago series matchup last year and put LeBron on Rondo. If Miami goes small with a Chalmers, Wade, James, Battier, Bosh lineup and forces us to counter with a Rondo, Avery, Ray/Pietrus, Pierce, KG lineup, then James can freely guard Rondo, Chalmers on Avery, Wade on Ray/Pietrus, Battier on Pierce and Bosh on KG. That's a bad situation for us as well.

If Wade or LeBron guard Rondo for an extended period of time, then we are not in a good situation in this series.

[colincb]

Sadly I don't think it matters.  The Heat are just too good.

I bet I could find a lot of people making the same comments prior to the Dallas series.  

exactly, and i'd like to think we are a better team defensively than the knicks...

the Heat have NO answer for Rajon rondo or Kevin garnett(with the way he has been playing)

id like to think a series vs. the heat could go either way....and this time we actually have wing defenders in bradley/pietrus we can throw at wade/lebron

Chris Bosh matches up very well with Kevin Garnett.  Last year in the playoffs they were about even and both were well below their season averages in the series.  KG was nominally better in game 5 and was significantly better in game 3 (the only game Boston won), the other 3 games Bosh out played Garnett.  Now I realize, Bosh and KG aren't always matched up head to head, but they generally played each other and they will do so again this year (if that series happens), while Anthony will take Bass (a much better match-up for the Heat - though I would like to think Bass will still be able to find range).

The only spot the Celtics have any sort of real advantage is Rondo against Chalmers and even Chalmers has had pretty solid success against Rondo (comparatively speaking anyway) because Chalmers is one of the few players in the league fast enough to stay with Rondo.  The last two years the rotations of Arroyo/Chalmers and Bibby/Chalmers has basically held Rondo in check in the playoffs (I know Rondo was injured last year so that is a bit skewed).  

The reality is Miami is a horrid match-up for Boston.  

One knock i keep hearing about the heat from commentators is they have no real discernable offense. It's basically give the ball to Wade or lebron iso's and get the heck out of the way. I think that plays right into our team defense concepts and puts us at the advantage.

that was the knock on them last year too and they beat boston in 5 games with a lot less quality depth/health.  Pierce isn't fast enough, strong enough, etc. anymore to consistently be able to give James fits (he has his moments, but they are too few and too far between to make a real difference defensively), and Wade should be able to get his looks against Rondo and Bradley (Allen can't slow him down at all anymore).  Now that they have Miller and Battier (and still have Chalmers and Jones), they will be able to kick out and have much more effective looks.  Even Bosh is a pretty solid outside shooter (not at the three line, but foul line extended he is excellent).  They have the pieces there that weren't around last year and Boston could do nothing against them last year.  

Boston's only realistic shot at beating Miami is a Lebron James injury.

Really? Boston is 14-7 against the Miami over the last 3 years and 5-5 in the playoffs.  Boston is a better team now than in 2010 with Garnett not fully recovered and last year when our only bench player was BBD [and he s--t the bed in the playoffs] and Rondo was injured by Wade.  We also would have swept the 2012 season's series except for the heroic efforts of rookie Norris Cole (who is now deep on the Miami pine) vs a team missing Paul Pierce.

Boston's greatest weakness is offensive rebounding, but Miami is also one of the weaker teams in the league.  Miami has no answer to Rondo other than injuring him and they're weak at center with Turiaf. Bradley won't shut Wade down, but he can contain him, and Bosh averaged under 12 points per game against us this year (and under 9 per game in the two games against the Cs new line-up).  That leaves LBJ who will get his points no doubt and dominate his match-up with Pierce.  After that the Heat's bench is led by Battier and Haslem vs Allen and Pietrus and is pretty much a push.

I'm confident that we'll give them a good battle and I think we have a very good chance to advance if we meet up with them.

[kg is king]

Sadly I don't think it matters.  The Heat are just too good.

I bet I could find a lot of people making the same comments prior to the Dallas series.  

exactly, and i'd like to think we are a better team defensively than the knicks...

the Heat have NO answer for Rajon rondo or Kevin garnett(with the way he has been playing)

id like to think a series vs. the heat could go either way....and this time we actually have wing defenders in bradley/pietrus we can throw at wade/lebron

Chris Bosh matches up very well with Kevin Garnett.  Last year in the playoffs they were about even and both were well below their season averages in the series.  KG was nominally better in game 5 and was significantly better in game 3 (the only game Boston won), the other 3 games Bosh out played Garnett.  Now I realize, Bosh and KG aren't always matched up head to head, but they generally played each other and they will do so again this year (if that series happens), while Anthony will take Bass (a much better match-up for the Heat - though I would like to think Bass will still be able to find range).

The only spot the Celtics have any sort of real advantage is Rondo against Chalmers and even Chalmers has had pretty solid success against Rondo (comparatively speaking anyway) because Chalmers is one of the few players in the league fast enough to stay with Rondo.  The last two years the rotations of Arroyo/Chalmers and Bibby/Chalmers has basically held Rondo in check in the playoffs (I know Rondo was injured last year so that is a bit skewed).  

The reality is Miami is a horrid match-up for Boston.  

One knock i keep hearing about the heat from commentators is they have no real discernable offense. It's basically give the ball to Wade or lebron iso's and get the heck out of the way. I think that plays right into our team defense concepts and puts us at the advantage.

that was the knock on them last year too and they beat boston in 5 games with a lot less quality depth/health.  Pierce isn't fast enough, strong enough, etc. anymore to consistently be able to give James fits (he has his moments, but they are too few and too far between to make a real difference defensively), and Wade should be able to get his looks against Rondo and Bradley (Allen can't slow him down at all anymore).  Now that they have Miller and Battier (and still have Chalmers and Jones), they will be able to kick out and have much more effective looks.  Even Bosh is a pretty solid outside shooter (not at the three line, but foul line extended he is excellent).  They have the pieces there that weren't around last year and Boston could do nothing against them last year.  

Boston's only realistic shot at beating Miami is a Lebron James injury.

Really? Boston is 14-7 against the Miami over the last 3 years and 5-5 in the playoffs.  Boston is a better team now than in 2010 with Garnett not fully recovered and last year when our only bench player was BBD [and he s--t the bed in the playoffs] and Rondo was injured by Wade.  We also would have swept the 2012 season's series except for the heroic efforts of rookie Norris Cole (who is now deep on the Miami pine) vs a team missing Paul Pierce.

Boston's greatest weakness is offensive rebounding, but Miami is also one of the weaker teams in the league.  Miami has no answer to Rondo other than injuring him and they're weak at center with Turiaf. Bradley won't shut Wade down, but he can contain him, and Bosh averaged under 12 points per game against us this year (and under 9 per game in the two games against the Cs new line-up).  That leaves LBJ who will get his points no doubt and dominate his match-up with Pierce.  After that the Heat's bench is led by Battier and Haslem vs Allen and Pietrus and is pretty much a push.

I'm confident that we'll give them a good battle and I think we have a very good chance to advance if we meet up with them.

I get your point, but you really can't factor in the past three years. 2010 the Heat is Lebron-less and an entire different team. And when you factor in the fact that the best two players on the court are on the other team, it really is an uphill climb. I do believe the C's have a chance, but all emotions aside, I will go with Miami in 6.

[colincb]

Sadly I don't think it matters.  The Heat are just too good.

I bet I could find a lot of people making the same comments prior to the Dallas series.  

exactly, and i'd like to think we are a better team defensively than the knicks...

the Heat have NO answer for Rajon rondo or Kevin garnett(with the way he has been playing)

id like to think a series vs. the heat could go either way....and this time we actually have wing defenders in bradley/pietrus we can throw at wade/lebron

Chris Bosh matches up very well with Kevin Garnett.  Last year in the playoffs they were about even and both were well below their season averages in the series.  KG was nominally better in game 5 and was significantly better in game 3 (the only game Boston won), the other 3 games Bosh out played Garnett.  Now I realize, Bosh and KG aren't always matched up head to head, but they generally played each other and they will do so again this year (if that series happens), while Anthony will take Bass (a much better match-up for the Heat - though I would like to think Bass will still be able to find range).

The only spot the Celtics have any sort of real advantage is Rondo against Chalmers and even Chalmers has had pretty solid success against Rondo (comparatively speaking anyway) because Chalmers is one of the few players in the league fast enough to stay with Rondo.  The last two years the rotations of Arroyo/Chalmers and Bibby/Chalmers has basically held Rondo in check in the playoffs (I know Rondo was injured last year so that is a bit skewed).  

The reality is Miami is a horrid match-up for Boston.  

One knock i keep hearing about the heat from commentators is they have no real discernable offense. It's basically give the ball to Wade or lebron iso's and get the heck out of the way. I think that plays right into our team defense concepts and puts us at the advantage.

that was the knock on them last year too and they beat boston in 5 games with a lot less quality depth/health.  Pierce isn't fast enough, strong enough, etc. anymore to consistently be able to give James fits (he has his moments, but they are too few and too far between to make a real difference defensively), and Wade should be able to get his looks against Rondo and Bradley (Allen can't slow him down at all anymore).  Now that they have Miller and Battier (and still have Chalmers and Jones), they will be able to kick out and have much more effective looks.  Even Bosh is a pretty solid outside shooter (not at the three line, but foul line extended he is excellent).  They have the pieces there that weren't around last year and Boston could do nothing against them last year.  

Boston's only realistic shot at beating Miami is a Lebron James injury.

Really? Boston is 14-7 against the Miami over the last 3 years and 5-5 in the playoffs.  Boston is a better team now than in 2010 with Garnett not fully recovered and last year when our only bench player was BBD [and he s--t the bed in the playoffs] and Rondo was injured by Wade.  We also would have swept the 2012 season's series except for the heroic efforts of rookie Norris Cole (who is now deep on the Miami pine) vs a team missing Paul Pierce.

Boston's greatest weakness is offensive rebounding, but Miami is also one of the weaker teams in the league.  Miami has no answer to Rondo other than injuring him and they're weak at center with Turiaf. Bradley won't shut Wade down, but he can contain him, and Bosh averaged under 12 points per game against us this year (and under 9 per game in the two games against the Cs new line-up).  That leaves LBJ who will get his points no doubt and dominate his match-up with Pierce.  After that the Heat's bench is led by Battier and Haslem vs Allen and Pietrus and is pretty much a push.

I'm confident that we'll give them a good battle and I think we have a very good chance to advance if we meet up with them.

I get your point, but you really can't factor in the past three years. 2010 the Heat is Lebron-less and an entire different team. And when you factor in the fact that the best two players on the court are on the other team, it really is an uphill climb. I do believe the C's have a chance, but all emotions aside, I will go with Miami in 6.

Quite correct and you got me before I could delete the post when I realized my error. It still 7-6 over the last 2 years, albeit it's 1-4 in the 2011 playoffs with no bench an a broken Rondo.  Otherwise, I still stand with the rest of it.  It's silly to say the Heat can't be beaten.

[Moranis]

Can Moranis please talk to us more about this great depth that Miami has over last year because I'm not seeing it?

I will admit that their bench might be as good as last years but I don't think it any better and think it might be worse.

Miami's playoff starters this year

LeBron
Wade
Bosh
Chalmers
Haslem

Miami's playoff starters last year

LeBron
Wade
Bosh
Bibby
Anthony/Ilgauskas - Ilgauskas wasn't used or was hurt and stopped playing

Miami's playoff rotational bench this year

Battier
Miller
Anthony
Jones - very little playing time
Cole - very little playing time

Miami's playoff rotational bench last year

Miller
Anthony - stopped coming off the bench once Ilgauskas stopped playing
Jones
Haslem
Chalmers
House - very little playing time
Howard - very little playing time

So two of last year's bench players, Haslem and Chalmers, have graduated to the starting lineup, mostly because Bibby is gone and Anthony isn't playing anywhere near the level that he flashed at the end of last year.

Jones' role has been replaced by Battier and Eddie House's role by Norris Cole.

I see a very similar overall skill set on this year's playoff bench with zero good bigs coming off the bench, whereas last year at least Haslem was coming off the bench. I also see a lack of experience coming off the bench instead of vets like Juwan howard and Eddie House I see Joel Anthony and Norris Cole.

Maybe it's just me but I don't see this great increase in bench strength that Moranis is talking about. I still see the Heat's top players playing big minutes even though they absolutely crushed the Knicks in two out of the three games they have played this off season. To me that's a sign of a bad bench.

Haslem played 3 minutes in the entire series against Boston last year.  Miller played 30 minutes in the entire series against Boston (after not playing at all in the last 3 games against Philly).  Just because they were on the team, didn't mean they had any effect at all on the outcome of the Boston series.  They didn't as they barely played.  Just adding those two guys to full health greatly improved the bench (Anthony now on it instead of starting and Miller coming off it).  Add in Battier and you get even more improvement.  That is essentially the Heat's 8 man rotation, much improved from the 8 man rotation against Boston last year (which had Z, Bibby, and Jones instead of Haslem, Miller, and Battier). 

[Moranis]

Sadly I don't think it matters.  The Heat are just too good.

I bet I could find a lot of people making the same comments prior to the Dallas series.  

exactly, and i'd like to think we are a better team defensively than the knicks...

the Heat have NO answer for Rajon rondo or Kevin garnett(with the way he has been playing)

id like to think a series vs. the heat could go either way....and this time we actually have wing defenders in bradley/pietrus we can throw at wade/lebron

Chris Bosh matches up very well with Kevin Garnett.  Last year in the playoffs they were about even and both were well below their season averages in the series.  KG was nominally better in game 5 and was significantly better in game 3 (the only game Boston won), the other 3 games Bosh out played Garnett.  Now I realize, Bosh and KG aren't always matched up head to head, but they generally played each other and they will do so again this year (if that series happens), while Anthony will take Bass (a much better match-up for the Heat - though I would like to think Bass will still be able to find range).

The only spot the Celtics have any sort of real advantage is Rondo against Chalmers and even Chalmers has had pretty solid success against Rondo (comparatively speaking anyway) because Chalmers is one of the few players in the league fast enough to stay with Rondo.  The last two years the rotations of Arroyo/Chalmers and Bibby/Chalmers has basically held Rondo in check in the playoffs (I know Rondo was injured last year so that is a bit skewed).  

The reality is Miami is a horrid match-up for Boston.  

One knock i keep hearing about the heat from commentators is they have no real discernable offense. It's basically give the ball to Wade or lebron iso's and get the heck out of the way. I think that plays right into our team defense concepts and puts us at the advantage.

that was the knock on them last year too and they beat boston in 5 games with a lot less quality depth/health.  Pierce isn't fast enough, strong enough, etc. anymore to consistently be able to give James fits (he has his moments, but they are too few and too far between to make a real difference defensively), and Wade should be able to get his looks against Rondo and Bradley (Allen can't slow him down at all anymore).  Now that they have Miller and Battier (and still have Chalmers and Jones), they will be able to kick out and have much more effective looks.  Even Bosh is a pretty solid outside shooter (not at the three line, but foul line extended he is excellent).  They have the pieces there that weren't around last year and Boston could do nothing against them last year.  

Boston's only realistic shot at beating Miami is a Lebron James injury.

Really? Boston is 14-7 against the Miami over the last 3 years and 5-5 in the playoffs.  Boston is a better team now than in 2010 with Garnett not fully recovered and last year when our only bench player was BBD [and he s--t the bed in the playoffs] and Rondo was injured by Wade.  We also would have swept the 2012 season's series except for the heroic efforts of rookie Norris Cole (who is now deep on the Miami pine) vs a team missing Paul Pierce.

Boston's greatest weakness is offensive rebounding, but Miami is also one of the weaker teams in the league.  Miami has no answer to Rondo other than injuring him and they're weak at center with Turiaf. Bradley won't shut Wade down, but he can contain him, and Bosh averaged under 12 points per game against us this year (and under 9 per game in the two games against the Cs new line-up).  That leaves LBJ who will get his points no doubt and dominate his match-up with Pierce.  After that the Heat's bench is led by Battier and Haslem vs Allen and Pietrus and is pretty much a push.

I'm confident that we'll give them a good battle and I think we have a very good chance to advance if we meet up with them.

I get your point, but you really can't factor in the past three years. 2010 the Heat is Lebron-less and an entire different team. And when you factor in the fact that the best two players on the court are on the other team, it really is an uphill climb. I do believe the C's have a chance, but all emotions aside, I will go with Miami in 6.

Quite correct and you got me before I could delete the post when I realized my error. It still 7-6 over the last 2 years, albeit it's 1-4 in the 2011 playoffs with no bench an a broken Rondo.  Otherwise, I still stand with the rest of it.  It's silly to say the Heat can't be beaten.

Delonte West and Jeff Green are totally offended by your comment (who both btw, played significantly more minutes than Glen Davis in the Miami series)

[BballTim]

Can Moranis please talk to us more about this great depth that Miami has over last year because I'm not seeing it?

I will admit that their bench might be as good as last years but I don't think it any better and think it might be worse.

Miami's playoff starters this year

LeBron
Wade
Bosh
Chalmers
Haslem

Miami's playoff starters last year

LeBron
Wade
Bosh
Bibby
Anthony/Ilgauskas - Ilgauskas wasn't used or was hurt and stopped playing

Miami's playoff rotational bench this year

Battier
Miller
Anthony
Jones - very little playing time
Cole - very little playing time

Miami's playoff rotational bench last year

Miller
Anthony - stopped coming off the bench once Ilgauskas stopped playing
Jones
Haslem
Chalmers
House - very little playing time
Howard - very little playing time

So two of last year's bench players, Haslem and Chalmers, have graduated to the starting lineup, mostly because Bibby is gone and Anthony isn't playing anywhere near the level that he flashed at the end of last year.

Jones' role has been replaced by Battier and Eddie House's role by Norris Cole.

I see a very similar overall skill set on this year's playoff bench with zero good bigs coming off the bench, whereas last year at least Haslem was coming off the bench. I also see a lack of experience coming off the bench instead of vets like Juwan howard and Eddie House I see Joel Anthony and Norris Cole.

Maybe it's just me but I don't see this great increase in bench strength that Moranis is talking about. I still see the Heat's top players playing big minutes even though they absolutely crushed the Knicks in two out of the three games they have played this off season. To me that's a sign of a bad bench.

Haslem played 3 minutes in the entire series against Boston last year.  Miller played 30 minutes in the entire series against Boston (after not playing at all in the last 3 games against Philly).  Just because they were on the team, didn't mean they had any effect at all on the outcome of the Boston series.  They didn't as they barely played.  Just adding those two guys to full health greatly improved the bench (Anthony now on it instead of starting and Miller coming off it).  Add in Battier and you get even more improvement.  That is essentially the Heat's 8 man rotation, much improved from the 8 man rotation against Boston last year (which had Z, Bibby, and Jones instead of Haslem, Miller, and Battier).  

  The Heat had a better winning percentage and better point and efficiency differentials in 10-11 than this year. Considering how poorly they started out in 10-11 it's very probable that they were playing better going into the playoffs last spring than they are now. I think you talked a lot about how much better they were going to be this year than last, but the numbers seem to say the opposite.

[Senninsage]

I see no reason in being spooked by the Heat. Are they a dangerous team? Of course they are, but then so are the Celtics. I don't see the Heat as having any kind of edge on the Celtics in a potential matchup. I don't care how good Lebron James is, or how good Dwayne Wade is, and Bosh is of course a talented player as well. This Celtics team has more than enough to beat them, and beat them in impressive fashion.

All the Celtics need do is take care of the ball, and don't make too many silly turnovers that lead to too many easy baskets for the Heat, and play their usual defense, making extra sure to do their utmost to take away the Heat's 3 point shooters that, in my view, usually win the tougher games for the Heat. Lebron will get his points, and so will Wade. We can beat them regardless. We just don't allow them to take us out of our game.

[RAcker]

Do I think we fear the Heat?  Absolutely not. But, should they lose to us in a 7 game series?  Absolutely not.

However, there is a reason the games are played and I actually think we are the tougher minded team by a long shot.  I mean it's not even close.  And frankly, sometimes toughness overcomes talent.  Let's hope that happens and lady luck smiles down on us with good health.

[Bankshot]

An easy way for Miami to avoid playing Boston?  Miami should lose in the next round, then they won't have to worry about it.