The Indiana Pacers, however, are presenting more front court depth and some say will pose a greater problem for the Miami Heat. Roy Hibbert has slowly evolved into a solid big man, leading the 4th best rebounding team in the NBA at 43.9 boards per contest. David West and Danny Granger are also known to do a little glass cleaning, too. In the situations where Miami has stuggled, it has been usually with a team that can control the boards and make a high percentage of shots while turning the Heat into a half-court team with defense.

Can the Pacers play strong enough defense to limit the Heat? They can and will certainly present a tougher challenge than the New York Knicks did. Both the Heat and the Pacers are among the best defenses rated in the NBA. During their two meetings this season, the Heat were limited to only 93 points in an overtime game, and 90 points in the other matchup. Roy Hibbert will re-direct air traffic as he has blocked 3.8 shots per game.

But the Heat are a team that predicates itself on excellent, athletic defense to set up its offense. When things are going right for the Heat, they are creating turnovers and getting fast breaks. They also get to the lane and draw fouls. The Pacers have been taking care of the ball, with both Darren Collison and George Hill protecting the ball with about 1.2 turnovers per contest. With Hibbert’s ability to clog the lane, and the guards protecting the ball, the Heat will have to find a way to speed up the game if they want to press their advantage.

The Heat will definitely be forced to push the tempo and if they can create turnovers, that will help. They will have to get consistent scoring from their outside shooters, like Shane Battier, Mike Miller, and even James Jones. Helping space out the floor will keep the Heat from falling into a jump shooting team, like they did against Dallas last year in the Finals.

This is a predictable win for the Heat, possibly going 5-6 games. But expect the competition to be tough. Arguably, the toughest for the Heat during their Eastern Conference march with the Bulls now eliminated. For the Heat to prove its mettle, and potential to hoist the trophy at the end of it all, they will have to find ways to adjust and force the Pacers to chase the Heat, and not the other way around.

The Heat are the two seed in the East but the favorite in their conference to advance to the Finals. Now with Derrick Rose suffering a torn ACL and being out for the playoffs, it looks like they have only cemented that position. But there is the Knicks series to take care of first.

The Heat got it done against their rivals with defense. The Knicks had trouble taking care of the ball having 24 turnovers. Meanwhile, the Heat kept their turnovers respectable with only 14. It was the swarming, active defense that generated the offense for the Heat and this is what is expected. The Heat’s game is predicated on good defense generating turnovers and getting the ball out in transition.

Lebron James led the way with 32 points on 10-14 shooting. He took over and even during some very physical moments still shined with his game. He was active on defense, running the point, getting his shot to fall from all over the court. Meanwhile, the other star on the Knicks that was the focus, Carmelo Anthony, struggled. He 3-15 from the field and got very little help from his complementary star in Amar’e Stoudemire who shot just 2-7.

In both Anthony and Stoudemire the Heat demonstrated their defensive prowess. If the Heat can continue to play pressing defense and get easy baskets in transition, this series will be over sooner rather than later. The Heat also decided to front Anthony in the post, limiting his comfort and touches, and also were able to get to the free throw line with regularity as the Knicks seemed slow to react to the Heat’s attack. At one point, the Heat went on a 32-4 run during the 3rd and 4th quarters.

The Knicks also lost Iman Shumpert with a torn left ACL which is a big blow to the Knicks defense.

The redemption has begun as the Heat set their sites on a 2012 NBA playoff run looking to finish what they were unable to pull off last season – a championship.

The Heat are favored by most of the odd pickers to take home the hardware and in the East, they are currently the #2 seed facing the Knicks. The Bulls, the top seed, are taking on the Sixers but the recent injury to Derrick Rose has definitely left a big opening for the Heat. The Magic are without Dwight Howard while the up-and-coming Indiana Pacers look to make strides in this year’s playoff. The other series, between the Celtics and the Hawks, looks to be a very even matchup in the first round but may prove to be about whose experience will make the difference.

It was the apocalypse for Miami fans and I was there.

Don’t expect this same kind of intensity in the current version of the Heat/Knicks playoff series. The Heat are the favorites, much like the 2000 vintage, but you get the sense that this Knicks team is not the kind of drastic underachieving type that was a part of the Knicks 2000 class. And these Knicks do not have the blind, raging, hatred of the Heat that those Knicks teams had.

So the Heat and the Knicks will dance around the court this afternoon. There will be some interesting story lines like the fact that Tyson Chandler, a member of last year’s Mavs team, stands in the way of the Heat’s return to the Finals. The roster has some interesting pieces, eve if they are older, in Baron Davis, Carmelo Anthony, and Amare Stoudemire. Jeremy Lin is injured and may not return until later in the series and Mike Bibby makes his return to Miami on the other bench. Mike D’Antoni resigned and the interim coaching gig has fallen to Mike Woodson, formerly the Hawks head coach, who finished with an 18-6 run with the Knicks.

Lots of questions begin to be answered this afternoon as the Heat open up their series against Knicks. One of which will be whether or not this is a rivalry renewed.

MiamiHeatwave – HeatVision on YouTube

The Heat got 31 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists from Lebron James – who was scratched from the pregame shootaround due to flu symptoms. Didn’t seem to matter tonight as James relished the opportunity to take on Kobe Bryant, a player, he admits, he admired “back in high school”. Seems kind of odd to think that James is either that young or that Kobe is now that old.

Bryant was held to 6 points on 1-7 shooting in the first half by a melange of Shane Battier and Mike Miller. Bryant ended up with 24 points trying to stuff the basket when the game was pretty much determined, but for the most part was kept under control for the Heat defense.

Some other positive developments for the Heat – Eddy Curry makes his debut on the game after Mike Miller made his. Although not as immediately impactful as Mike Miller’s entrance, Curry flashed abilities on the offensive side of the ball depositing 6 points in 6 minutes. He did, however, leave Pau Gasol open to drain a three and it was Curry’s defensive rotation that still needs work. He obviously has come a long way just to get onto the floor, but the next goal for him will be to solidify himself into game shape and get after it on both ends of the floor. Curry has always been a gifted, offensive big man and his defense is mostly relegated to patrolling the paint and using his size. He was a factor, when he did play, on Andrew Bynum, matching him size for size.

Lebron James also showed more poise and comfort running the team and setting up his teammates. James, ultimately, will leave a legacy as a facilitator in his uncanny ability to make plays and set up teammates and this is where he will need to focus to become more successful for the Heat. One sequence tells all – after hitting a three and things were getting chippy with Kobe, who wanted to play through his frustration and chose to defend James tightly all of a sudden, James didn’t force up a jumper but instead threaded a pass on the wing to a waiting Battier who drained the three. If James can stay ultra competitive but focused on the task at hand, that shows tremendous growth.

Mike Miller is a loved man here in Miami. He says he has only received two ovations in his NBA career – his debut with Miami last year after overcoming some early injuries and, yep, the same this year.

What did Miller do? Tie a franchise record of 6 three pointer makes in 6 attempts. He brought some energy to the team that was in desperate need of it.

And in typical Mike Miller fashion, he got banged up in the gig.

This guy needs a new nickname. Heck, a nickname for that matter. We can skip over the obvious MM or eminem references, plus his #13 being unlucky or anything like that (can’t wear #33 because that is Zo’s number). Since the guy is always getting banged up, hustling and taking charges, why not “Crash”?

Crash Miller. Mike Crash Miller. He crashes threes, crashes the boards, crashes the floors. Not since Dan Majerle has a Heat shooter looked so good when he looks so bad. He should be getting a purple heart every time he’s on the floor – he practically looks like a guy falling on grenades. Seemingly for fun.

His quote after last night’s game: “Fun!”

Miller is an admitted gym rat. He’s a gamer. He’s going to play through whatever ache or pain he has – good or bad. He shoots unconsciously and won’t hesitate. What’s really good is that he seems to have his thumbs back. I’ve mentioned this before – it took James Jones a year to come back from  his thumb injury. All he did was win the NBA three point shooting crown last year. Mike Miller is at that same point and we all know this guy can score and shoot. That is why he was brought in here. Could he possibly make a run at challenging James Jones for his three point crown?

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Besides, we still have to work on that All Star Center nomination thing for Joel Anthony. But it sure feels good to add Miller to the mix again and with Jones and Shane Battier the Heat have serious options to shoot and play tough defense. Welcome back, Crash.