Heat vs. Mavericks: Why Miami Will Dominate Dallas on Christmas Day

In just a few days, we will be witness to one of the greatest kickoffs to an NBA season.

In action that day, the Golden State Warriors take on the Los Angeles Clippers, the Chicago Bulls play the Los Angeles Lakers, the Boston Celtics challenge the New York Knicks and the Orlando Magic oppose the Oklahoma City Thunder.

All four matchups are sure to be enjoyable in their own right, but they might not live up to the hype that the contest between the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks is set to have.

In a battle that features a rematch of the 2011 NBA Finals, the Mavericks will be hosting the Heat on the same day that they raise their first ever championship banner. If memory is a problem for you, just remember the Mavericks bested the Heat in six games last season with LeBron James having a historically awful series where he averaged 17 points per game.

James averaged 10 points per game less than what he was averaging in the regular and postseason. The zone defense that the Mavericks were throwing at him might have contributed to the decline in his game, but it was obvious to see from Game 2 that James was completely out of it and wanted no part of the pressure that he was under in the immense series.

Had the Heat won, they would have escaped the pressure of having to win a title. Instead, they will now be entering the building where they fell in Games 4 and 5 without a championship and watching their opponent hoist theirs.

For that exact reason, the Miami Heat are going to dominate the Dallas Mavericks.

This is a team that prides itself on motivation. They are tired of playing angry with the only reason to win games coming out of spite. Instead of playing with rage, the Heat are going to go into the American Airlines Center with the state of mind that they have no pressure on them, and will play it like any other regular-season game.

The Mavericks may have the balance and depth to best the majority of the league's teams, but they don't matchup in talent with the Heat.

The Big Three of the Heat in James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade were beating up on more physical and aggressive defenses in the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls prior to their series against Dallas, and should be able to best a team that just lost their top post presence and a solid perimeter defender.

The loss of Tyson Chandler will also carry a great significance in this game, as he will be sorely missed once the Mavericks become devastated by the drives of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James.

With those two able to enter the paint at will and with little resistance deterring them from scoring around the rim, James and Wade should have a field day with the offering the Mavericks are giving them.

Dallas will have Brendan Haywood, but it takes more than a big body to send back James and Wade. Chandler was able to thrive so well against the Heat because he had the length to showcase himself as an imposing threat, the quickness to keep up with either player if they attempt to drive past him and the strength to body them if they attempt to finish over him.

Haywood gives you size and decent shot blocking, but he's not nearly as smart a defender as Chandler is.

The Mavericks will also be missing out on a solid perimeter defender in DeShawn Stevenson, who recently departed for the New Jersey Nets. Stevenson played a key role with his defense on Wade and James at the perimeter, which at least limited their driving attempts.

Without him, the Mavericks must now rely on Shawn Marion, a 35-year-old Vince Carter and Delonte West as their top stoppers at the perimeter.

What Stevenson possessed that none of those players have is the ability to get under an opponent's skin. He lets his mouth do most of the talking for him instead of his game, but it does pay off in certain cases as it did against LeBron James.

With pressure already on James, the insults that Stevenson gave to him only provided more pressure on the two-time MVP.

The Mavs lost two of their top defenders in the offseason and that's going to cost them against a motivated Heat team that will be looking for redemption throughout the season.

Not only do the Heat have the advantage of the Mavericks losing two solid defenders, they also have the benefit of getting a key defender in Udonis Haslem back from injury. The Heat struggled in defending Dirk Nowitzki in the Finals as they were forced to play Chris Bosh and Joel Anthony instead because of Haslem's injured foot continuing to ail him at that point.

Haslem is the perfect defender to play a player like Nowitzki. He's extremely physical and unlike Anthony and Bosh who allowed Dirk to get to where he wanted to be, Haslem makes life uncomfortable and forces him into spots where he wants Nowitzki to shoot from. It's Udonis' defense dictating who shoots where, as well as his physicality which throws a player like Nowitzki off.

In the 2006 NBA Finals, with Haslem starting against Nowitzki, the German shot less than 40 percent from the field overall and less than 30 percent from beyond the arc. The Miami Heat now welcome that back as Haslem returns to the court healthy for the first time since November of 2010.

Not only will Haslem be returning, but the Heat will also welcome Shane Battier and James Jones to the fray. With Mike Miller out again, the team will be able to rely on the support of Battier and Jones from beyond the arc. It was a tremendous blow to the Heat's chances when they went up against the zone as they didn't have a consistent threat on the floor that could attract attention on the perimeter.

With the zone designed to limit drives and the Heat having no quality shooters on the perimeter, the Mavericks were able to focus their attention on the drives of Wade and James without any consequences. Now that the Heat have Battier, a 39 percent three-point shooter, and James, who shot 43 percent from deep last season, the Mavericks will have to worry about defending the perimeter.

However, all these reasons for the Heat dominating this game pale in comparison to the fact that this team is more motivated than ever. They've all worked on key parts of their game over the offseason to improve and they're now ready to put that to the test in their second installment of the new era of Heat basketball.

With Wade getting leaner, Bosh bulking up and focusing on playing aggressive, and James attempting to improve his post game, the Big Three have shown just how committed they are to redeeming themselves after last year's travesty.

Instead of sulking and blaming each other for the Finals loss, each member made a vow to improve on the weak parts of their game and they're now ready to put their new talents on full display.

Motivation, talent and some added depth behind them, the Miami Heat will go into the American Airlines Center and give reason as to why they're going to be the team raising a championship banner of their own the following season.