MIAMI — After the Heat knocked Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett out of the playoffs in 2011 and 2012 and then convinced Ray Allen to join them on South Beach, the Big Three thought they had finally disposed of their Celtics tormentors.
“I thought when we played them in Boston, we buried them,” Dwyane Wade said at the Heat’s practice Monday. “Then we got Ray, Doc [Rivers] left, [and] we were like, ‘Yeah, there they go.’”
But that all changed, of course, when Pierce and Garnett were dealt to Brooklyn last June, helping to create a $190 million-plus roster with championship aspirations and bringing some of that bad blood with them.
Suddenly, the Heat expected they would get at least one more taste of their two old nemeses in a playoff setting.
“That’s why they put that team together,” LeBron James said, “and it should be fun.”
In an era with so much player movement and lacking the kind of long-time rivalries the league has been built upon, there is a true rivalry between Pierce and Garnett and James, who they now will have met in a playoff series five times in seven years, and Wade, who they will be meeting for the fourth time.
“It’s just part of playing them,” Wade said of the bad blood between the two tandems. “It’s just a part of them being good, us being good, them not like us for being good and we not liking them for being good. When we first started this thing, they were the big bullies on the block and we had to come and try to impose our will.
“It took us a while to get there, but we eventually did. But they’ve got pride as well, and they wouldn’t back down. Whenever we get into a series like that, it’s just physical, [with] guys who don’t want to lose and have will to win. At the end of the day, it’s ultimate respect.”
There has been plenty of respect sent in both directions in the two days leading up to Tuesday’s start to the series, beginning with Pierce calling James “one of the greatest players to ever play the game” after the Nets beat the Raptors in Game 7 of their first-round series Sunday.
James returned the favor Monday, saying he’s always enjoyed his many battles with Pierce, singling out their epic duel in Game 7 of the 2008 Eastern Conference semifinals, when Pierce scored 41 points to lead his Celtics past James, who scored 45, as Boston went on to win the title.
“I’ve always wanted to compete against the best in the postseason,” James said. “I’ve always looked at Paul as one of the better guys we have in our league. He’s had the upper edge on me. I’ve had the upper edge on him. It’s another opportunity to see who gets the upper edge.
“It’s big time to go against a Hall of Famer, especially in the playoffs. He’s a guy who has made so many big plays and clutch shots in his career and vice versa. It should be fun.”