And how do you stop them? In the span of about fifteen games—the final two games last year’s Eastern Conference finals, the NBA Finals and the Olympics— the evolution of Lebron James is complete. In an Eastern Conference void of elite centers who has the inside game to counter the Heat’s style of play? Lebron has his title and the pressure has eased considerably. Twenty years from now the whole of the basketball public may finally appreciate the brilliance of James and his 2012 playoff run— playing both the perimeter and the post, guarding all five positions on the guard, averaging forty-four minutes per game. And as last night showed, that Lebron James isn’t going anywhere. The days of Lebron and Wade taking turns on the perimeter, with poor spacing and ball movement are gone forever and the rest of the league is going to have to figure out how to counter the Heat’s small ball.

The ball movement of the Heat last night was impressive—even beyond what they showed in the finals. This team clearly hasn’t peaked yet and that’s a scary proposition for the rest of the league.
The story last night was Ray Allen, and arguably the greatest perimeter shooter in NBA history didn’t disappoint. Remember all those three’s taken by James Jones late year and Mike Bibby the year before? Well, Ray Allen is taking those shots now.

It’s all about depth in Miami this season. Back when the Big Three joined forces in July 2011 the perception of many pundits was that salary cap implications would make it impossible for Miami to build the bench needed to compete during a long NBA Season/Playoff run. With Lebron James cramping up and a spectator a unit of Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, Mario Chalmers, Rashard Lewis and Mike Miller not only maintained the lead, but put the game away.

The Heat are locked and loaded and who’s going to compete with them? With James Harden settled in Houston and great experiment in LA looks to be the only team can truly compete with this year’s Heat in a playoff series, primarily due to their sheer size up front with Gasol and Howard. But as last night showed, the meshing of the Lakers may take time, as the Heat learned two years ago.
As far as the Celtics, where was the defense? Boston had a fantastic offseason but you have to wonder where the intensity was. That being said, the Celtics will be there in the end and the likely Eastern Conference finals matchup will be a battle.

Still, one game does not predict a season and the Celtics will be back to battle again. They’ve greatly improved their bench and will eventually get Avery Bradley back. And judging by the late Rajon Rondo foul on Wade—called a “punk play” by Wade—the Celtics/Heat rivalry will continue to smolder.

Before the game the Heat got their championship rings from the owner Micky Arison and watched the NBA title banner being raised. The Heat controlled the game early on finishing the first quarter with a six point lead and closed the half at 62-54. The first scary moment of the season for the Heat was when they saw last season’s MVP Lebron James walk slowly to the bench with 4:40 remaining in the third quarter, with cramps in both of his feet “ Once you start cramping, there’s nothing you can do about it”, James said.

The tension and the true emotion were there right from the start and continued to show almost the whole game. As Allen entered the game he stopped at the Celtics bench and exchanged a handshake and a few words with Coach Rivers, who has shown his displeasure regarding the decision of his former shooting guard to leave the team and join the Heat. Allen approached Garnett, too, who kept looking straight ahead and seeming rather unhappy watching his former teammate in another uniform. “I was just trying to focus as much as I could. I am such an intense person”, Garnett said. However, Allen didn’t seem to be affected, hitting his first shot as a Heat member – a corner 3 pointer.

In another hot moment late, Celtic guard Rajon Rondo grabbed Wade with both hands around his neck, as the Heat star drove past him. Wade really seemed to stop himself from getting out of control. “It was a punky play by him”, he said. “The league will take care of it”.

The game kept going with the Heat in command, being up 9 when Lebron first exited the game with cramps. When he returned in the start of the fourth quarter the score was 93-76 for the Heat. Miami overcame a late 11-2 run by the Celtics to bring them only 4 points behind, with Bosh scoring 7 straight and thus giving Miami the victory in this first game of the season.

For the Celtics, Pierce finished with 23 points, Rondo with 20 and 13 assists and Leandro Barbosa in his first game as a Celtic with 16 off the bench. Another Heat newcomer, Rashard Lewis had a very good first game finishing with 10 points on 4-5 shooting. Next for the Heat are the Knicks, Friday and for the Celtics, Milwaukee on the same day.

Miami Heat 9/4 – 11/5

Los Angeles Lakers 11/4 – 5/2

Oklahoma City Thunder 9/2

San Antonio Spurs 12/1 – 18/1

Boston Celtics 14/1 – 18/1

Chicago Bulls 18/1 – 14/1

Los Angeles Clippers 25/1

Brooklyn Nets 28/1 – 30/1

Interested in placing a bet early?

Do you think Miami will repeat?

We have the potential to be a lot better. And that’s scary.

The goal in Miami clearly is for a team reloaded around James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to make a third straight trip to the NBA Finals and win a second consecutive title. But the Heat took their first step on the eve of training camp toward distancing themselves from last season’s victory over Oklahoma City in five games.

LeBron James was once again amazing, leading the Heat to victory throughout. He nearly triple-doubled yet again, scoring 26, grabbing 9 rebounds, and dishing 12 assists. At halftime, he had 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. LeBron also hit a large three-pointer, which seemed to be a dagger placed deep into Oklahoma City’s spiris. The dagger nearly wiped him out, too, as LeBron missed the last few minutes of the game with leg cramps. Dwayne Wade and Mario Chalmers both came up big in the win. Chalmers somehow continually beat Kevin Durant on the offensive end, scoring 25 with three huge treys. Wade scored 25 but hit 2 treys to go along with 2 steals and 2 blocks. Off the bench, Norris Cole hit two treys and James Jones hit another one, giving the Heat offense a much needed spread for Wade and LeBron to operate within. Needless to say, no team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals. The Heat will seek to close out the Thunder Thursday night in Miami. If the Heat do not finish the Thunder then, Games 6 and 7, if needed will be in Oklahoma City on Sunday and/or Tuesday.

He only turned the ball over twice. One time at the end of the game off a crummy pass from Wade that almost cost them the game.

Also for the Miami Heat, Shane Battier continued his sharp shooting, going 5 of 7 from downtown. Battier’s performance in the NBA Finals so far has often kept Miami’s leads from deteriorating. Wade was strong once again, shooting 50% and scoring 24. Bosh’s 15 rebounds were huge and Miami as a team out-rebounded what just might be the NBA’s best front court. Ibaka was held to just 4 rebounds and Perkins only played 19 minutes, grabbing 8 boards. For Oklahoma City, Durant hit many late shots to rally the home Thunder to a near-win late in the fourth quarter. However, Durant’s partner-in-crime Russell Westbrook hit only 10 of 26 shots. Westbrook was quiet until the fourth quarter. Harden was once again strong off the bench, scoring 21. Fisher, also off the bench, played well despite not having much statistical impact. Thunder coach Scotty Brooks shortened his rotation even further, playing just 8 of his troops. Thabo Sefolosha’s impact against the Heat is largely nullified as the Heat are not dependent on one player’s offense like the Spurs were on Tony Parker. Heading into Games 3, 4, and 5 in Miami, the Thunder must be careful to not let LeBron James kill them down in the post like he did in Game 2. For the Thunder to make it back to Oklahoma City they will have to make James into a perimeter player. With players like Perkins and Ibaka, who are known for their defense, there is little excuse to let a SF out-muscle them in the post.