MIAMI — Yes, there was a chance the Heat would face the 76ers in the first round of the playoffs.
But the Heat never really thought that. And though Miami sees the Knicks as the tougher opponent, it is glad in a weird way. Got to beat the best to be the best.
“For us, I think it’s great that we start off with a team that really makes you focus and you have to play your best to beat them,” said Dwyane Wade, who like all the other Heat players who battled injuries down the stretch proclaimed himself fit after nursing a finger ailment. “It’s great to have them in the first round and not have any letdowns. We’re playing a very good team.”
No surprise, really. And it all becomes reality starting today.
“Not that I put all my eggs in one basket, but I put 70 to 80 percent of them in there,” Chris Bosh said. “Usually you get three or four days to prepare. We had to really utilize our time because we didn’t want to make it a cram session right before. But I kind of had a feeling we were going to play New York when it was all said and done”
Ditto LeBron James.
“Mentally, I got in on them,” James said. “I started thinking about the Knicks and I was thinking about the matchups and thinking about the personnel, so my mind had already started working. I put more emphasis on them than Philly because I had Philly in the back pocket from last year in the postseason.”
The fifth installment of the rivalry kicks off after a long layoff from the four brutal series from 1997 through 2000. The latest chapter could emerge as just as memorable. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra sent all the requisite praise at the Knicks, starting with “the phenomenal scoring ability of Carmelo Anthony.”
“This past month he could put it in the basket as well as anybody in this league and do it in a lot of different ways,” Spoelstra said. “He forces you to put two on the ball quite often, and then when you do that, it’s opening up daylight for their shooters, Novak and Smith and those guys. They’re healthy now really for the first time — other than Lin — all year. We understand what we have ahead of us.”