Nets vs. Heat Preview And Prediction

This action thriller starring Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett vs LeBron James and Dwayne Wade is one that we've seen before. And it's never let us down.

“Yeah, it’s seeming like that, eh?” Garnett said. “It seems like we’re seeing Dwyane Wade and LeBron for the last past seven, eight years. That’s what it is, man, the best is playing the best.”

This will be Garnett and Pierce's sixth playoff series against either James or Wade in the past seven seasons.  Garnett and Pierce do hold a (3-2) combined record against James and Wade, but they are far from the favorites as they have yet to beat the duo since they teamed up in Miami.

But Garnett and Pierce are not the only keys to victory if Brookyln wants to advance past the two-time reigning champions. If Brooklyn has a chance in this series it's going to involve two max players: Deron Williams and Joe Johnson. I don't see Brooklyn even having a punchers chance without these two scoring at least 45 points a night.

We all know Joe Johnson can score with the best of them. He proved that again with his dominating play in Sunday's deciding Game Seven against the Toronto Raptors. He scored 13 of his 26 points in the 4th quarter.

The biggest questions in this series surround Deron Williams. Can he still play like a top point guard?

Williams is only averaging 7.1 ppg against the Heat this season. That number will have to triple for his teams playoff journey to continue.

During the regular season the Nets made history by being the first team to sweep the Heat since James and Chris Bosh joined Wade to become the "Big 3". But that doesn't mean anything now.

Prediction-  Heat in 6 

My head tells me I should have Miami winning in five games after having more than a week of rest. This allows Wade to get healthy.  My gut says this may be Kevin Garnett's last ride so expect this team to give its all for one of the NBA's greatest leaders ever. I have the Nets taking a close Game 2 on the road and Game 4 at home, before ultimately falling in Brooklyn in Game 6.  Don't be surprised if this blockbuster ends earlier than expected though.

Regular Season Series

Nov 1, 2013

Heat 100 - Nets 101

Jan 10, 2014

Heat 95 - Nets 104

Mar 12, 2014

Nets 96 - Heat 95

Apr 8, 2014

Nets 88 - Heat 87