The Miami Heat are entering the regular season as two-time NBA champions and while the preseason doesn't usually mean much in terms of yearly success, the matchup between LeBron James and the Brooklyn Nets could be a sign of things to come and the game will be live on NBATV on Friday night at 7:30 pm from AmericanAirlines Arena in Florida and streaming online.
The game will be broadcast locally and will be on NBATV nationally and the game features two of the top teams in the eastern conference in the Heat and the Nets, who dramatically improved after trading for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce this offseason and also signed a number of other players. The Miami Heat come in as champions and they have redone their roster again, this time adding Greg Oden to the mix and James and company will be marked as the team to beat in the NBA by both teams in the east and the West.
The Heat are looking strong once again in the preseason and James is playing with intensity despite the fact that they are exhibition games and the matchup on Friday will be treated with some seriousness, as the two teams already played once in a blowout by the Nets and it also marks the final preseason game before the regular season starts for a number of teams. Deron Williams will not be playing while dealing with an injury, while the Nets are hopeful that he will be fine for the season opener.
The Heat start their season with an anticipated matchup between the champs and Chicago Bulls and that game will mark the return of Derrick Rose after missing all of last season with an injury. Rose has looked explosive this preseason and he appears completely back from his knee surgery and that makes the Bulls one of the top teams in the East.
The conference all will be gunning for Miami and the NY Knicks, Nets, Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons are all improved and they will be trying to best Miami. The Pacers added Luis Scola in the offseason and they pushed the Heat to seven and could be the ones to knock them off. Miami is 5-2 this preseason and will be playing against the Nets on Friday before starting up the regular season on Tuesday in a national game against Chicago.
The Heat come into the season as a top five scoring and defensive team and if Oden can remain healthy, he should be a fantastic player for the team to have. Last season they ranked 30th in the league in rebounds per game and they were seventh in assists, meaning Oden could be a big help moving forward for the squad and for James. Oden will be brought along slowly by the coaching staff and while he may not play a ton at the beginning of the season, he will be most valuable in the playoffs anyway. The Heat will be looked at as the number one team until someone beats them and with the Nets and Bulls looking improved, that could be what does it.