Miami Heat's Path to the Finals: Better to Be Well Rested or Battle-Tested?

The 66-game compressed schedule the NBA played this season was filled with many injuries for many teams. However, it is the first three days of the NBA playoffs that has brought about many injuries that players most likely will not return from.

The one team that looks to benefit the most from the flurry of injuries are the Miami Heat, as many of the injuries are potential opponents. 

The Miami Heat entered the playoffs as the second seed behind the Chicago Bulls, who had played 27 games throughout the season without the reigning NBA MVP, Derrick Rose. 

In the first round of the NBA playoffs, the Miami Heat are playing the New York Knicks.  Coming into the playoffs, the Knicks were already missing the sensational Jeremy Lin, who had captured the hearts of many NBA fans as he came out of nowhere to be the starting point guard for the Knicks.

Already at a disadvantage in the backcourt, the Knicks lost their best perimeter defender in Iman Shumpert during the first game of the playoffs. Shumpert, a rookie who had been starting at shooting guard, was the best chance the Knicks had at containing Dwayne Wade. During a routine crossover move, Shumpert tore his ACL and will miss 4-6 months. 

After losing their starting point guard and shooting guard to injuries, the Knicks lost their best offensive big man when Amare Stoudemire stupidly punched the glass covering the fire extinguisher after the Game 2 loss to the Heat. Stoudemire had a laceration on his hand that needed stitches, and he will most likely miss Game 3 and perhaps even more.

Although the Heat were already favored against the Knicks, these injuries took away any chance the Knicks had of pulling off an upset.

After eventually disposing of the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs, the Heat will go up against the winner of the Indiana Pacers and the Orlando Magic series. 

Orlando had been favorites to come out of the first round and held the third seed before Dwight Howard went down with back injuries that required surgery.  This surgery will hold Howard out of the entire playoffs. Without Howard, the Magic stand no chance at beating the Miami Heat.

The Pacers, although underrated, are having trouble defeating the Magic without Howard.  Having lost Game 1 of the series, they are not playing to the best of their potential.  In order for the Pacers to have any chance at beating the Heat, they must play to their maximum potential. 

In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Heat will most likely meet up with either the Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics or the Chicago Bulls.

The Hawks came into the playoffs without their All-Star starting center Al Horford, while the Celtics came into the playoffs without their starting shooting guard Ray Allen.

The Chicago Bulls, on the other hand, came into the playoffs being healthy for the first time all season. However, while up 12 points with a little over one minute left in the game, Derrick Rose made a move into the paint and, upon landing, had his knee buckle. An MRI showed that he had a ACL tear and would miss the rest of the playoffs. 

The Hawks rely on Horford for scoring in the paint and the defensive presence that he provides. Without Horford, it is a foregone conclusion that the Heat would defeat the Hawks in a quick series without being challenged, much like the first two rounds.

The Celtics rely on Allen for his three-point shooting and creation of offense when he comes off screens and creates mismatches. Without Allen, Celtics will have a very hard time beating the Miami Heat.  Avery Bradley and Sasha Pavlovic are either too small or not fast enough to defend Dwayne Wade. Miami Heat should not have a problem with the Celtics without Ray Allen. 

If they happen to meet the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals, it will be an interesting experiment for NBA fans. The Bulls are known as the ultimate team with the ultimate coach.  They play unselfishly on offense and play gritty and rugged defense.  Their coach is a candidate for the Coach of the Year award.  

Meanwhile, Miami is a star-driven team. They have the Big Three, and the rest of the roster is mostly filled with minimum salaried players. The coach is routinely criticized and would likely be the first to be on the hot seat if they falter at any point in the postseason.

So who wins? The NBA is a star-driven league and has been since its inception with George Mikan. Although the Bulls would put up a fight, they would ultimately be no match for the Heat without their most valuable player. 

The Miami Heat would find themselves in the NBA finals having only played injury-plagued teams. Now, the only question left is whether this is good news or bad?

As an NBA team, would you rather be well rested for the NBA finals or would you rather be battle-tested? Well rested would mean getting to the NBA finals without exerting too much energy. Battle-tested would mean having gone through the trials and tribulations of a hard-fought series and having the confidence that you can get through whatever it takes to win. 

Having witnessed last year's NBA finals meltdown by LeBron James and the Miami Heat, it might be better to get tested in the early rounds to get that bad taste out of their mouths. If the Heat are not tested in the early rounds, they will always have last year's defeat in the back of their mind.  

In tough battles, a team builds character. In the NBA more than any other league, you learn how to win. In the Heat's case, whether they have learned to win when challenged under the bright lights remains to be seen. Neither the NBA fans nor the Heat players know how the Heat will react when they finally get challenged in the finals.

It would be better to be challenged for the first time in the early rounds by a team you are clearly superior to, rather than being challenged for the first time in the finals by the Western Conference champions.

Due to the rash of injuries in the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat will be deprived of early-round battles that will test their team resolve. Although the injuries grant them almost automatic access to the NBA finals, it will hurt them when they get there.