Celtics - Heat Showdown

There are HUGE playoff implications lurking in this regular season game between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics, which will have the air of a playoff game from the get-go. Bragging rights and playoff seeding are both up for grabs in the East, well after the 2 slot that is. Sure both the Bulls and Magic may have legitimate chances to be a top two team in the East by season's end, but in reality, it seems almost crystal clear that the two best teams in the East will finish 1 and 2.

The only question remaining is which team, the Celtics or the heat will sit atop the conference standings and hold homecourt advantage.

The game on February 13th may be a huge telling point in whether the Celtics can reign supreme in the East or if the tide has turned with a younger Heat team. Age and health is a huge factor that will most likely come into the outcome of the season, and both will easily factor into this game. With the Celtics banged up and wounded, the Heat stand a very good chance of waltzing into Boston and escaping with a win. however, Boston has something called pride and determination and even with the health an issue on the bench as much as anywhere, the Celtics are able to win in a variety of ways.

Now that Ray Allen has his 3pointer record out of the way, the team can get back to focusing to the game itself and rid themselves of the distractions that occurred with the record. The Big 3 will have to step up in a big way starting with KG. Garnett is going to have to shut down Chris Bosh, maybe the most important piece of the Miami big 3. Pierce and Allen have to shoot the ball the way they can and Pierce needs to drive to the hoop and look to kick the ball out to Ray to find him open looks at the 3. Lastly, the Celtics need Rondo to just be himself, if he can dish out 15 assists the W should come easily for the Celtics.

The biggest question of the game for the Celtics may be: Who do you stop, Lebron or DWade? Personally, I believe that stopping DWade will be more of a key factor to a Celtics win than Lebron, however, I'm also just the one writing the blog and there's a reason I'm not behind the bench with Doc.

Whoever wins this game, the best team of the East will take one step closer to securing their spot atop the conference.