The Miami Heat's road to their second-straight championship almost felt easy in 2012. The Boston Celtics were struggling with age. The New York Knicks lacked chemistry. Derrick Rose was injured. However, that is all a distant memory as several Eastern Conference teams have stacked up their roster in hopes of keeping pace with LeBron James and company. The reigning MVP is only thinking about one person this year, Rose.
The Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat have provided some excellent matchups in recent memory. The rivalry continues to grow and the Heat are preparing for a healthier and more improve Bulls team, much thanks to the addition of Rose. James is making one thing clear, he hates that team.
"We don't like them, they don't like us," James said, via ESPN.com. "It's not unheard of. We all know how it is."
Chris Bosh echoed those beliefs as the Heat have been making practices more physical in preparation for the Bulls on opening night. James expects Chicago to come in a little more motivated this season. Rose is back after sitting out the entire 2012 season with an ACL tear. Miami will be having their championship celebration during the pre-game after beating the Bulls in the Eastern Conference semfinals.
"We're both trying to do something, trying to win [a championship]," Dwyane Wade said. "You're going to run into each other along the way and you're going to dislike each other. They want to beat us as badly as we want to beat them. Our goal here is not to get bored. Don't get bored with trying to be great. We have to understand that we're champions and we're going to get every other team's best shot."
The Bulls will certainly be watching the Heat raise their championship banner into the rafters and receiver their championship rings. The team has come close before, but have yet to seal the deal. With Rose back and Joakim Noah declaring himself 100 percent healthy for the first game of the season, they understand the road to the Finals goes through Miami.
"That's their ceremony, not ours," Rose said. "If we were getting our rings there would be a little bit of a distraction, but for us we know that we got to stay focused, come together as a team, and really take their first hit because they're definitely going to be on charge."
