Ranking the Miami Heat's Toughest Playoff Matchups

People, we're only a month away until the start of the postseason!

It seems inconceivable that only three months ago we faced the prospect of there not being an NBA season.

The owners refusing to give the players a better offer and the players having too much pride led to an extended lockout period that eliminated the first month of the season. It wasn't until late November that things were finally resolved and we got back to watching the game we love so much.

It's been an interesting season. The compact 66-game schedule has been a real pain to some players, as we've seen a number of injuries occur to star players. Al Horford, Danilo Gallinari, Chauncey Billups and even Brook Lopez, a center who played in every game the first three years of his career, have missed significant time due to various injuries.

What follows is a look at the Miami Heat's postseason outlook. The team is 35-13, with a 20-2 record at home and a 27-7 record in the Eastern Conference. They're just about locked in to the No. 2 seed and will most likely be playing the Boston Celtics in the first round.

Even though the Celtics are old and the Heat did beat them in five games last year, they will still put up a huge fight.

Here's a look at the Celtics and four other teams that could potentially give the Heat problems in the playoffs.

Chicago Bulls

The only legitimate competition for the Heat in the Eastern Conference, the Chicago Bulls will be gearing up for another possible conference finals showdown with their newest rival.

They'll have Derrick Rose this time around. Maybe they should have John Lucas III instead?

They've lost five consecutive to the Heat with Rose as a starter, but they're 1-0 when they allow Lucas to take over at point guard. So, the Bulls beat the Heat without Rose. Are you going to say that they should start Lucas III over Rose?

It seems that this is the logic here. Since the Heat beat the Bulls when they were playing without Luol Deng and the Bulls beat the Heat without Derrick Rose, maybe Deng is the most important player on this team. He has been the glue guy and an excellent role player for the Bulls. Perhaps he's the reason why this Bulls team is at the top of the conference.

Or maybe I'm just talking crazy. I'll leave that up to you to decide.

The chances are high that Rose will be ready for this series against the Heat. He's been dealing with nagging back spasms throughout the season, but it seems extremely unlikely that Rose is going to sit out one game in a series that features his Bulls playing against the Heat on the conference playoff's biggest stage.

Rose wants revenge badly. While he wasn't as scrutinized as much as LeBron James for his NBA Finals performance, Rose is smart and aware enough to know that he was outplayed. He shot 36 percent in the conference finals and had one field goal in the fourth quarter when he was being defended by James.

For the Heat, Rose should be the least of their worries. They have James to keep him in check. What I'd worry about are the multiple players on this Bulls team who can affect the outcome of a game based on their rebounding.

Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and Omer Asik are going to play huge roles if these teams meet. It'll be up to Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem and the rest to put in a huge effort on the boards. What they lack in size, they're going to have to make up for in effort.

If they win the rebounding battle, or at least match it, the Heat will win this series in just as many games as they needed last year.

Oklahoma City Thunder

For Heat fans, it's time to take a step back and breathe.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are not better than the Miami Heat. They're a great team with talented pieces that are MVP-caliber. Kevin Durant has become arguably the second-best player in the league, James Harden will most likely become the Sixth Man of the Year, Serge Ibaka could become the Defensive Player of the Year and Russell Westbrook has emerged as a top-five point guard.

This team is scary. Extremely scary. They can beat you from outside with the jump-shooting of their own Big Three, and can also beat you on the inside with that very same trio. Harden, Durant and Westbrook are all versatile when it comes to being able to shoot from deep. They're all shooting at least 33 percent from the land of three, and driving in for easy scores.

And Serge Ibaka, who is averaging three blocks a game, and Kendrick Perkins in the middle? Forget the Bulls, this is the team to worry about if you're a fan of the Heat. The Thunder have the three-point and mid-range shooter, the drivers, the perimeter defenders and the post defenders. Top to bottom, this is an excellent team that arguably has the best all-around roster in the NBA.

However, I have a hard time believing that the Heat are going to commit 21 turnovers, allow Kevin Durant to have a near triple-double and manage only 87 points four times in a seven-game series. That's what they did in the first meeting with the Thunder this season. It was a travesty that they can only put behind them. They had been playing average basketball the past month and it finally caught up on them big-time.

Oklahoma City's energy was high and consistent throughout the game, while the Heat could only muster enough energy to match the Thunder for a quarter.

The Heat are still the better team when Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James are working together and getting each other, as well as the role players, involved. When those three are playing well and making smart basketball decisions, they're easily the best team in the league. There isn't a team that can match up with them, not even the Thunder.

This Thunder team is one the Heat should be wary of if they meet in the NBA finals. Miami will need to disrupt Durant's rhythm and attack the basket to try to get Ibaka and Perkins into foul trouble to make it easier on themselves.

Los Angeles Lakers

Remember when people thought the Los Angeles Clippers were better than the Lakers? I thought that was hilarious, too.

The Lakers started the season in turmoil. Kobe Bryant injured his wrist and rumors floated around that the players were angry about the Lamar Odom trade. Throw in Chris Paul playing alongside Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan with the Clippers, and there was no way a team as old as the Lakers could continue to be the best team in Los Angeles.

Three months later, Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro is on the verge of losing his team, as well as possibly his job. The Lakers could soon be headed down the same road with new coach Mike Brown, who has gone so far as to bench Bryant and Andrew Bynum in the fourth quarter.

However, this team has a lot more resilience, determination and experience in winning to allow something as silly as a benching to derail its season.

The Lakers have a huge advantage with Bynum and Pau Gasol down low. In fact, there isn't a team in the NBA that can compete with those two on both sides of the ball. Both are extremely long and can score easily in the post.

With Bynum having a career season and Gasol getting into mid-season form, the Lakers have suddenly become as scary as sane people thought they would be at the beginning of the season.

Bynum and Gasol killed the Heat on the glass the last time they played. Granted, the Heat were playing without Chris Bosh, but it's tough to say that he would have made a significant difference. Bosh's rebounding has been awful since the All-Star break.

Oh yeah, the Lakers also have Bryant. He knows the stakes are high and knows there's a chance he could become arguably the greatest player of all time if he ends up winning a sixth NBA championship and a third Finals MVP award. Year after year, Bryant is determined to win the championship and he's followed through twice in the past three years.

Throw in a solid point guard in Ramon Sessions and you have yourself quite a formidable squad. They're still lacking depth and they'll need Metta World Peace to contribute in order to beat the Heat, but they're still a dangerous team based on their experience and length.

Orlando Magic

You may be thinking I've really blown my top if I list the Orlando Magic as an actual threat to the Miami Heat's playoff run.

I will say that there's no conceivable way the Magic beat the Heat in a seven-game series. Of course, I know the Magic beat the Heat in two of four meetings this season. I also know that team can't make 17 three-pointers every game in a playoff series. I'm also well aware that there's no way an NBA team like the Magic can beat a team as talented as the Heat.

However, I will point this out. There are two glaring weaknesses to the Heat's defense that have been constantly exposed in just about every one of their losses. They are an inability to keep the opponent from grabbing offensive rebounds and to defend the perimeter. The Magic have tremendous advantages in both those areas.

Remember that mammoth of a human being wearing No. 12 for the Magic? That guy is a problem for the Heat. When he wants to, Dwight Howard can play like he's the best player in the NBA. He can score at will inside, grab rebounds over anyone, block shots and completely shut down an opponent's offensive strategy by deterring slashers.

The Heat rely on nothing but slashing. See what I'm getting at? Once they allow Howard to control the middle and the Magic to dictate the flow of the game, they're not going to win. They can't compete with Orlando as a jump-shooting team.

The Heat have to win by playing how they always play. Every shot attempt should come near the basket. Howard is in the middle? Get him into foul trouble.

You're not going to be able to take layups or throw down slams with him in the middle. The only way to contain  Howard on offense is to get him off the court by getting him into foul trouble.

Coach Stan Van Gundy has no problem allowing Howard to play 45 minutes. We've seen him do it before. He will go that far to win games, including in a seven-game series against the Miami Heat.

Boston Celtics

I'm not even close to ruling out the Boston Celtics.

To me, this team is still the third-best in the Eastern Conference. You can give all the praise to Orlando, Atlanta, Indiana and Philadelphia, but I'm fearing the Celtics more in a seven-game series.

What this Celtics team possesses is an excellent veteran core and knowledge of how to win big games. The Celtics ache to play in big games. They could care less about a mid-season game against the Milwaukee Bucks. This team wants to be in the playoffs, so they can truly show what type of team they are.

Are they the Celtics of 2008? Absolutely not. Are they going to win the championship? No way. However, I'm still wary about completely ruling this team out as a threat to the Heat or Bulls.

This has been the worst year for the Celtics during the Big Three era. They're struggling without a center, which is why the Heat will still beat them in a series. They're not hitting the same shots they used to make and they're not nearly as athletic. This team is old, slow and injury-prone, but they still have one of the NBA's most volatile and dangerous cores.

Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce have been to the playoffs too many times to count. They've won a championship together and have been playing together since 2007. There's a lot of chemistry between these three, and they all have a passionate desire to win. Each player can shoot, defend well and make timely shots, which still makes them extremely dangerous.

Not to mention that they have Rajon Rondo, who has consistently beat up on the Heat's point guards. Rondo can beat you as a scorer and passer, but mostly the latter. His ability to penetrate, attract attention and then dish to an open teammate has victimized the Heat too many times in the past.

It's going to take more than Mario Chalmers or Norris Cole to limit Rondo. He needs to have Dwyane Wade or LeBron James defending him when it truly matters. Throw Shane Battier on Paul Pierce or Ray Allen, and you have a solid defensive lineup.