By Brian Phelps
The pressure is on more than ever for Lebron James to finally capture the brass ring... or is it? It looks more and more every day like the road to the NBA Finals is turning into a cakewalk for Lebron James and the Miami Heat. Think about it. One game into the playoffs and the Miami Heat's biggest rival, the Chicago Bulls, lose the reigning NBA MVP Derrick Rose to a torn ACL for the rest of the season. The 3-time reigning NBA Defensive player of the year Dwight Howard is out for the season which eliminates the Orlando Magic from serious contention. Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics is questionable for the playoffs with bone spurs in his ankle that will require off season surgery. All that leaves is the New York Knicks who are just as bad off as these other teams. Tyson Chandler is battling the Flu, Iman Shumpert got injured in game one, and Jeremy Lin is out too. So Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard, Ray Allen, Jeremy Lin, Iman Shumpert, and Tyson Chandler are all either injured or sick. The Indiana Pacers, Atlanta Hawks, and Philadelphia 76ers are not even legitimate threats to the Heat. With all these injuries the bar in the East has been set so low for the Miami Heat that you might as well go ahead and pencil them in for the NBA Finals. I mean, who is really going to stop them in the East?
It also helps when the referees coddle the Heat's stars at home games. The Knicks can't touch James or Wade with a feather without getting called for a foul. In the first 24 minutes of the game, the Miami Heat shot 28 free throws to the Knicks 5. The Knicks got called for 21 fouls in the first half alone. They ended up getting 3 technicals and a flagrant foul.
The wild thing is that the Heat were penciled in for the NBA Finals BEFORE all these injuries happened to their rivals. The Miami Heat clearly have the most depth of any team in the league. No one can stop them in the East.
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