A newly formed Brooklyn Nets welcomes in the reigning NBA Champions tonight. Neither team likes each other, but they will bring their A game when they face each other. In the offseason, these two teams starting throwing verbal jabs at one another starting with Lebron James suggesting that Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce owe former teammate Ray Allen an apology after they left Boston via trade. Garnett and Pierce basically told James to mind his business.
With the trade, the Nets acknowledge that their championship window is now and they are going to do everything they can to stop the Heat from three-peating. However, that is jumping way too far ahead. The Nets have lost the last thirteen games against Miami, nine of which were when James was on the team. Considering how vastly different the Nets roster is, that stat is pretty much useless at this point. The Heat are coming off a very surprising loss against the Philadelphia 76ers; a game in which Dwyane Wade sat out for precautionary reasons. This team will need Wade to be healthy last in the season and postseason so expect him to rest more than usual this season. The Sixers got off to a 19-0 start, and the Heat just could not overtake them.
The Nets did not get their season off on the right foot, losing their first game to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Paul Pierce added 17 points while Kevin Garnett had ten rebounds. Some good news for this team, their point guard Deron Williams will see an increase in minutes tonight as he fights to get healthy from an ankle sprain. Having Williams in more can only make the Nets better. The Nets will still be missing Jason Kidd, their head coach, for this game.
It will be a fun game to watch, but I think Miami will prevail in this one. It should stay close for three quarters, but fatigue will set in for the Nets and the Heat will slowly pull away. Having Williams in the lineup helps, but he is still not 100 percent and has not yet played his normal amount of minutes yet. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett will never give up, but they just do not have enough to beat Miami. Nets vs. Heat- who you takin?
