The Hurricane Sandy tragedy gives way to Hurricane South Beach tonight at the Garden.
The Sandy-induced cancellation of last night’s historic game in Brooklyn against the Nets has transformed tonight’s contest vs. the defending champion Heat into the Knicks’ season opener — unless Mayor Bloomberg changes his mind today.
The Knicks’ offseason was geared solely on dethroning LeBron James’ title club and now they get to show right away if they’ve closed the gap at all. They aren’t backing away from title talk, even if their preseason was chock full of injuries that included Amar’e Stoudemire out at least the first six weeks.
“We both have dreams and aspirations of being there in the end,’’ said center Marcus Camby, a key free-agent summer signing. “So more than likely, we’ll see this team sometime in June. Right now, I feel we have a team assembled to play late in June.’’
Not if the Miami Dream Team can help it. It’s early to talk statement game but here it is anyway — with Brooklyn, sadly, in the rear-view mirror.
“They’re a great team,’’ coach Mike Woodson said. “We’re a team trying to get where they were a year ago, and that’s to the title round and perhaps win the title. It’s great to play great teams early in the schedule.’’
The debate on whether this game should be played amidst the despair and mass transit woes is moot. It’s on.
“I’m just excited about this journey and excited to have these games count,’’ Jason Kidd said.
Some players talked about the renewal of Heat-Knicks providing a diversion — even if hundreds of thousands at home are unable to see it because of power outages. The sold-out Garden may not be filled, either. Penn Station is open, however several subway lines are not running, primarily from Brooklyn and lower Manhattan.
“It will be more emotional because of the hurricane,’’ said Steve Novak, the popular 3-point shooting ace. “I feel like people from New York need a release. The Garden is going to be a getaway from that. It’s hard to know what to expect. A full house — that we almost expect. Now with the hurricane, it’s changed everything up.’’
Pat Riley’s Heat club that dispatched the Knicks in five games in the first round has reloaded, with bench additions of sharpshooter Ray Allen and healthy Rashard Lewis to add support to the Big 3 of James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Remember when Miami’s depth was the big issue? No longer.
“We can’t put anybody on a pedestal,’’ said Knicks swingman Ronnie Brewer, whose Bulls had some success against Miami.
“Absolutely I think they’re better,’’ Woodson said of the Heat. “Anytime you win a title, you’re in a totally different light. They went out and made offseason moves to better their ballclub. Only time will tell if it carries over.’’
Tuesday, the Heat beat the vaunted Celtics in their season opener, 120-107, leading by 19 points in the second half. James left the game with cramps in the final eight minutes as Boston rallied.
“They’re playing a little different than they have in the past,’’ said Jason Kidd, noting Miami has sped up its attack. “They put up 120 against Boston, a pretty good defensive team. With speed, they’re playing a little different.’’
Without Stoudemire, Woodson is expected to start a small lineup with Carmelo Anthony at power forward against the undersized Heat, who use Bosh at center and Shane Battier at small forward. That formation puts Kidd into the starting lineup at shooting guard, with Brewer sliding to Anthony’s natural position, small forward. It makes for a mediocre rebounding unit and the Knicks finished last in the preseason in rebounding percentage.
“Coach has options to have a lot of different lineups, able to go big, go small,’’ Kidd said. “That’s the beauty of this team. The makeup of the club is we have guys who can play multiple positions.’’
Brooklyn will have to wait. The Heat will be handful enough. “It just stinks for the fans,’’ Camby said of last night’s postponement. “I know when everyone saw the schedule everyone was excited. But we got another barnburner [tonight].’’
“Hopefully this game can uplift some people and give New Yorkers something to cheer about,’’ Brewer added.
marc.berman@nypost.com