When it comes to how last season ended, the Miami Heat would rather forget.
By Seth Wenig, AP
The New York Knicks' Carmelo Anthony, left, and Miami Heat's LeBron James jockey for position during the second half of an NBA basketball game in New York. It's LeBron vs. Carmelo as the Heat and Knicks renew an old playoff rivalry on Saturday.
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Then again, maybe not.
"I'm a firm believer in moving on but also, if they haven't done it already … go back to that dark place and how it felt and understand what we're shooting for," Wade said of his teammates going into Game 1 of a first-round series vs. the New York Knicks on Saturday (ABC, 3:30 p.m. ET).
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"It's a long journey. It's a uphill battle to get there. We feel we can, especially if we're playing good basketball. If we're playing good and the other team playing good we feel we should win. We got to go out and do that and obviously we got to look back. We got to feel that pain a little bit to remember."
This is the second year of the experiment of The Big Three - Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh - in Miami.
They made it to the 2011 NBA Finals but fell in six games to the underdog Dallas Mavericks. It took James a while to recover, and he's responded - at least in the regular season.
Knicks-Heat rivalry
The New York Knicks and Miami Heat are about to meet in a postseason series for the fifth time, starting Saturday. Miami has held the home-court advantage in every one, and all four went to an ultimate game with the Heat prevailing in 1997 and the Knicks winning in 1998, 1999 and 2000. A look back:
1997: Heat 4, Knicks 3
Miami trailed the series 3-1, when the matchup — and New York’s Charlie Ward — got flipped upside down. A fight in Game 5, sparked by Ward and Heat forward P.J. Brown getting tangled up under a basket, not only raised the intensity of the rivalry several notches but turned things in Miami’s favor. Allan Houston, Patrick Ewing, Larry Johnson and John Starks all were suspended for leaving the Knicks’ bench to join the fight, and Miami won the last three games of the series by an average of 10.3 points.
Quotable: “We’re not a team to say, ‘We’re going to go out and bust you.’ We knew what we needed to do to get it done.” — Heat guard Tim Hardaway.
1998: Knicks 3, Heat 2
Miami went up 2-1 by stealing Game 3 at Madison Square Garden, and after the Knicks tied it with a 90-85 win in Game 4 (best remembered by the Alonzo Mourning-Larry Johnson fight where New York coach Jeff Van Gundy tried pulling Mourning out the fray by grabbing onto his leg), the Heat returned home with a chance to oust their rivals again. Patrick Ewing was suspended for Game 5, as were Mourning and Johnson, who was ruled out of the deciding Heat-Knicks game for the second straight year by the NBA. Allan Houston scored 30 points, and the Knicks rolled to a 98-81 win.
Quotable: “This book is not closed. This is just another chapter.” — Knicks guard Charlie Ward.
1999: Knicks 3, Heat 2
Miami was the No. 1 seed in the lockout-shortened season, and needed to win Game 4 in New York just to come home for another winner-take-all matchup. Tied after one quarter, still tied after three quarters, the Knicks were down by one with 0.8 seconds left when Houston’s 15-footer hit the front of the rim, hit the backboard, and then dropped for a 78-77 win.
Quotable: “Life in basketball has a lot of suffering in it, and we will suffer this one.” — Heat coach Pat Riley.
2000: Knicks 4, Heat 3
Another chance to finish off the Knicks slipped away in Game 6 for Miami, which wasted a 45-30 halftime lead at Madison Square Garden. And in Game 7, the Heat led again by double-figures before the Knicks broke Miami’s heart and before their home fans yet again. Ewing’s dunk with 1:20 left put the Knicks up 83-82 and Miami never scored again. Clarence Weatherspoon had a chance to win it with less than 10 seconds left, but his jumper missed. Miami left steaming after Dick Bavetta overruled fellow referee Bennett Salvatore and gave the Knicks a critical time-out with 2.1 seconds left.
Quotable: “It will always be an intense rivalry. This was something, wasn’t it?” — Knicks forward Marcus Camby.
-The Associated Press
James led the Heat with 27.1 points per game (third in the NBA), 6.2 assists and 7.9 rebounds (tied Bosh for team lead).
Though he has been maligned for disappearing in the clutch, or the last five minutes of games decided by five points or less, James' numbers this season say otherwise, according a report by USA TODAY Sports' Jeff Zillgitt earlier this week.
James has been better than Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers in clutch situations with just as many points per game, higher shooting percentage and higher rebounding, assists and steals averages.
"Ever since the summer, those two weeks I took off after season last when we lost , I've been preparing from that moment on to get back to this point, this postseason," James said. "There's always going to be pressure. This is the biggest stage. The second season. … This is a big part of my season. The best part of my season.
"You just got to believe in your ability. Believe in your teammates. Believe in the system and then you live with it.
A significant difference for Miami this time around is they're going into the postseason fully loaded. Last year, they didn't have utilityman Udonis Haslem because of a torn ligament in his left foot until the conference semifinals vs. the Boston Celtics. He wasn't at full strength vs. the Mavericks, either.
Coach Erik Spolestra has made Haslem a starter for the first time in three seasons, using him at power forward and shifting Bosh to center. Haslem has only reached double figures once in April, but his 6.0 points and 7.3 rebounds are a significant upgrade over center Joel Anthony, who started 51 games this season (3.4 points, 3.9 rebounds).
"Being able to look at our guys and know what we're going to get, that's the important thing," Bosh said. "With Udonis, we know he's going to go out there, play defense, rebound the basketball. He's going to shoot it well. Just to have that chemistry and continuity out there that'll be better for the team, especially in late-game situations."
So who'll be the closer? Wade insists that it's something that is more understood than spoken with James.
"We've done a good job figuring out who's going to close games. That not always meaning it's come out to a positive result but we're comfortable with who has the ball at the end," Wade said. "It's not that maybe I should/maybe I shouldn't thing."
James is eager to get started.
"I feel confident about my ability to close out games . My teammates look for me during those late stretches. I'm looking forward to it," he said. "I know it's going to be some one-possession games in the postseason which there always are. I'll be there."
The only area in which Wade and James differ slightly is on what not winning a championship would mean for them.
James hasn't been successful in two trips to the Finals, including once with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Wade led the Heat to their only championship in 2006.
"The season won't be a failure. You put too much work in a season to automatically call it a failure," James said. "It would be a disappointment. This is our goal. This is what we come together for. Failure? It's a strong word."
Said Wade: "Yes. There's only one champion…If you don't win a championship you had a failed year. … No question. For every team."
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