NBA Playoffs 2012: Injuries Pave Road for the Miami Heat

After one day of NBA playoff action, the Miami Heat could not have asked for a better scenario.

The New York Knicks were regarded as the hottest team heading into the playoffs. In Game 1, Miami immediately cooled any discussions of a first-round upset by utterly dismantling the Knicks 100-67.

Adding insult to injury (literally), Knicks rookie Iman Shumpert suffered a torn ACL that will sideline him for the rest of the playoffs at the very least. Shumpert can be considered the Knicks' best on-ball defender, and without his defensive presence, the Knicks will have to pray on four godlike performances from Carmelo Anthony for a mere glimmer of hope to win the series. 

With Dwight Howard being out for the playoffs, the Heat will most likely play the Indiana Pacers in the second round. The Heat simply over-match the Pacers in every way, and they should run away with the series.

The 2012 season has been constantly building up hype for what appeared to be an inevitable Bulls-Heat Eastern Conference Finals rematch. But unfortunately for the Bulls, Derrick Rose also suffered a season-ending torn ACL.

Despite the fact that the Bulls were able to land the one seed with Rose missing more than 20 games during the regular season due to various injuries, the playoffs are the playoffs, and winning a championship without your star player is less likely than Metta World Peace admitting he's wrong.  

With the absence of Shumpert, Rose and Howard, the only team that stands a modest chance against the Heat are the Boston Celtics. The Celtics have played the Heat very well over the regular season, but injuries also seem to be taking a toll on the aging Celtics. Both Paul Pierce and Ray Allen will be nursing ankle injuries throughout the playoffs.

The path is almost too easy for the Heat right now. The Knicks lose their premier defender, the Bulls lose their star player, the Magic lose their star player, the Celtics are old and the Pacers simply aren't a threat.

The playoffs aren't even two days old, and the Heat have practically solidified their spot in the championship.