Why the Heat will win the NBA Championship

Kendrick Perkins is part of the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Chicago Bulls ride or die on the success of Derek Rose; plain and simple.

We are not even three days in the NBA playoffs and these two topics of discussion have already come into play (well the Perkins trade since the deadline, but same point).

Chicago has needed last-ditch Jordan-like rallies from Derek Rose to close out the Indiana Pacers. If Indiana had a closer, like Derek Rose, they would be up 2-0 in the series; easily.

The Pacers have played seven quarters of excellent basketball, but the last quarter, broken in half increments, has been the onslaught of the eventual NBA MVP.

Chicago is Miami's biggest threat because Boston traded Kendrick Perkins. Boston lacks size and depth because of injuries to Shaquille O'Neal and Delonte West. Boston still has Ray Allen, but he will not score 23 points a game (he averaged 22.7 in the first three regular season games against the Heat) because Dwyane Wade will be playing playoff basketball and playoff defense.

The same goes for Joel Anthony, whom Kevin Garnett said killed Boston by himself in the last regular season match-up between the Heat and Celtics.

Miami will beat the Boston Celtics in six games.

Back to Chicago, if coach Erik Spolestra puts LeBron James on Derek Rose, he'll find a way to adjust, he's Derek Rose. Like Dwayne Wade in his hayday against the Pistons, Miami should rotate defenders on Rose to disrupt his timing.

Three point shooting will still be an issue, however, because Miami is ranked close to last in three point shooting defense out of all the playoff teams.

Miami is the choice again here, because the Heat will find a way to steal a game in Chicago and wrap it up at home.

Depending on the West competitor, the Heat will win in six or seven games. James had a taste of the finals in 2007 and Wade won it in 2006, so they'll be ready.

If its the Dallas Mavericks, Miami will not have as much trouble as with the Los Angeles Lakers. If the Lakers make it again, Andrew Bynum down low will be a huge problem, even for a recently aggressive Chris Bosh.

It all boils down to the play of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. Can they feed off each other?

If so, it is Miami's championship for the taking and another parade down Biscayne Boulevard.

Heat set to face undefeated Hornets

A heat wave looks to stir up some Hornets in New Orleans tomorrow.

The Miami Heat take the NBA's number one defense and a four game winning streak into New Orleans tomorrow to square off with the undefeated New Orleans Hornets (3-0). Chris Paul and company look to pose a (serious) threat and possibly add another 'L' in the loss column for the Heat.

Miami's Thrice of Dwayne Wade, Lebron James and Chris Bosh have been averaging 55.8 points per game and that's playing only three quarters. However, Miami will need to have everyone play normal minutes to pull off a win in the Big Easy tomorrow.

In other news, Lebron James missed practice with a shin bruise, he will start tomorrow though. Dwayne Wade still leads the Heat in scoring, barely, over James.

LeBron "Rise"

He has responded.

Lebron James' new Nike commercial answers the critics while posing the question, "What do you want me to do?"

After watching ESPN's Pardon the Interruption this afternoon, I googled the commercial and thought it was portrayed brilliantly.

Lebron has been wising up to the media all off-season, but tomorrow, he can further put his critics at rest with a star performance. The commercial features the past, along with some new Miami wrinkles in the present as well as the future.

Some scenes take shots at MJ and Barkley, but why not retaliate on a national level? There will always be haters that will remember Lebron's decision, but "what do you want me to do?"

Watch the video above.

The games are bigger...the heart beats faster..the Heat is on!

That title above used to be the Heat's playoff slogan during the 2008-2009 season.

Tickets then were so easy to come by that people were giving them away. To get a seat at the "Heat's house" today, you'll have to give up a arm, leg, used car, take your pick.

I'm guilty as well, I should have listened to Riley and paid the $500 to be a Heat season ticket holder pre Miami Thrice, now a "Heat fan" should look to spend $300 a seat, in section 300, not even for a good game.

Forgot the Dec. 2 game against Cleveland, the chances of getting tickets to that game or Christmas Day against the Lakers are... well there is no chance.

Anyway, to divert back from my rant. The Miami Heat season starts Tuesday. Wade will play, but with the loss of Mike Miller until Jan. with a thumb injury, the Heat look to incorporate newly signed veteran Jerry Stackhouse and Eddie House should see some more touches as well.

What about Lebron?

The King's reign in Miami will begin Oct. 29th, against the Orlando Magic. The Heat don't have to worry about a cancellation this game, the Florida Panthers don't share an arena with the Heat.

Personally, I cannot wait to see what happens this season. I'll be watching many games from home, but when the opening jump ball goes up, this 82 game season will be the best ever.

Miami Heat Pre-Season Reaction

Wow, we do not even need Dwayne Wade.

That was my reaction when I watched Wade leave the court with a strained hamstring in the first quarter of yesterday's pre-season opener against the Detroit Pistons.

Wade played about three minutes before straining his hamstring after running after Pistons guard Richard Hamilton along the baseline. After some time on the bench, Wade was ushered to the locker room. (Don't worry folks, Wade will be back in time for the season opener.)

The starting line-up featured Arroyo and Anthony along with the unanimous tandem of Wade, James and Bosh before things were shaken up after the injury.

That gave the new number 6, King James, a chance to showcase his skills. Taking defenders off the dribble, he and Bosh combined for 38 points in a Motor City beat-down.

Coach Erik Spolestra was able to use a series of different line-ups with Wade out, but the end result is hopefully one we will see all season, a victory.

The Heat play again on Friday and the long awaited season opener will be nationally televised on TNT on October 26th. It should make for an interesting rivalry, Boston's big three and Shaq versus Miami Thrice and former Celtic guard Eddie House.

It is going to be a wild ride this season, when was the last time a pre-season game was near capacity?

Miami Heat Season Outlook- Week of September 20th

The Miami Heat's season opener is just a little over a month away and there is still plenty of buzz to the dismay of sports reporters about none other than Lebron James.

Lebron just cannot seem to get himself out of the spotlight. This starts nine days ago when he says he wanted Ohio State to beat the Miami Hurricanes so I can understand why he is not liked in any location outside of Miami. The homeless in the streets of Miami don't even want his jerseys but then again that gesture from the Clevelanders was pretty disrespectful to start with.

In other news, the Heat want to sign Erik Dampier. At this point, it doesn't really matter who they sign as he will most likely only play after the Heat are up by 40 in garbage time. A nice pickup nonetheless, Dampier is a strong inside presence that will free up minutes from Haslem and Big Z. It could also be a nice insurance policy for the injury prone Z.

Miami Thrice starts October 26th and I cannot wait!