RealGM

Andray Blatche
Keith Bogans
MarShon Brooks
Reggie Evans
Jerry Stackhouse
Tyshawn Taylor
Mirza Teletovic
C.J. Watson

Injuries (via NBA.com)

Nets

Josh Childress, Sore Left Ankle

Gerald Wallace, Left Ankle

Heat

Dexter Pittman, Right Quad Strain

I will update this when new info is available

Key Storyline: Can Nets Hang With East Elite?

The Brooklyn Nets want to compete for the NBA championship now. They've put together an impressive starting five and added some solid parts on the bench. The question is whether it's enough to overcome all of the injury and chemistry issues to ascend the Eastern Conference and get to the Finals.

Early reports out of Brooklyn point to no. They defeated the Toronto Raptors in their 2012-13 season opener before dropping their most recent game to the Timberwolves. If the Nets expect to be looked at as an elite team, or at the very least as a threat, they need to take care of business at home against inferior teams.

Joe Johnson did not attempt a free throw in their loss to the Timberwolves, which should never happen. At 6'7", Johnson should be enforcing his will upon the smaller defenders that oppose him. Kris Humphries scored just two points and secured four rebounds, accentuating a great need for the Nets in the paint.

The Nets should be able to score with anyone, but the elite teams in the Eastern Conference also play a suffocating brand of defense. The Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics and Heat are all able to play great defense.

Against the Timberwolves, minus their two best players, the Nets struggled in the paint. Granted, Nikola Pekovic is a concrete block, but it was Andrei Kirilenko and Dante Cunningham that beat them on the glass. That simply can't happen or the Nets will end up with a bad seed and an early exit from the playoffs.



Key Matchup: Joe Johnson, SG, Nets vs. Dwyane Wade, SG, Heat

If Joe Johnson played with the same kind of desire that Dwyane Wade does in getting to the basket, he'd be next to unstoppable. The problem is, he's in love with the jump shot and ends up taking it much too often.

Johnson is listed at 6'7" and weighs 240 lbs. Next to LeBron James, he has the most impressive build of anyone on the court for either team. For Johnson to succeed, he needs to go into attack mode. He could back Wade down in the paint or attack him facing up towards the basket.

During the 2011-12 season, Johnson took a remarkable 895 jump shots out of 1033 total attempts. He had just four dunks and took over half of his attempts (604) from outside 16 feet.

Wade plays like the polar opposite of Johnson. In 2011-12, Wade took 791 jump shots out of 1263 attempts and had a ridiculous 441 shots at the rim—106 of those attempts were dunks.

It wears on Wade's body taking it to the basket so often, but it also wears on his opponents and helps to light up the scoreboard. Because of his aggressiveness, Wade was awarded with 837 free-throw attempts, to just 186 for Johnson.

Wade will win this matchup simply because he's more aggressive. He'll get to the basket and the free-throw line and get Johnson into trouble. What little aggressiveness Johnson could show will be rendered useless, for fear of further foul trouble.



X-Factors

C.J. Watson, PG, Nets

Watson provides relief for Deron Williams and Joe Johnson in the backcourt, but his most comfortable position is point guard. He can score, as evidenced by his 15 points in their season opener against the Raptors.

He put together a second good offensive showing in their loss to the Timberwolves with 10 points, two rebounds, four assists and a steal.

If Watson can step up his defense and score on Mario Chalmers or whomever is playing the point for the Heat, he'll be an enormous help for the Nets and will give them a chance to win.



Ray Allen, SG, Heat

Allen scored 15 points with six rebounds, six assists, one steal and one block in 28 minutes in a win over the Suns to continue his solid year as the sixth man of the Heat.

After making a four-point play to seal the win against the Denver Nuggets, finishing with 23 points, he's now been a significant contributor to all three of the Heat victories. In their only loss, he struggled badly and scored only five points.

If the definition of "X-factor" is a player that turns the tides based on how he plays, then Allen is the poster boy so far. In wins, he's averaging 19 points and in losses, just five.



Prediction

The Heat don't lose very often at home and have too much talent at the right positions. Deron Williams and Brook Lopez create big disadvantages, but they aren't enough to overcome the extremely athletic wings of the Heat.

LeBron James carries the Heat, as the Nets really miss Gerald Wallace on the defensive end. Dwyane Wade and Joe Johnson play to a draw, as both get their fair share of opportunities and end up cancelling each other out.

What Bosh loses in size on the defensive end, he more than makes up for it offensively. Lopez ends up having to chase him around and fatigue sets in by the fourth quarter, when the Heat pull away and secure the victory.

Miami Heat 109, Brooklyn Nets 90

-This writing does not belong to me. Thanks to whoever wrote it

-You're Welcome

TheDon008 wrote:I was watching the Ray Allen interview earlier, and he noted that the Heat like to take advantage of the Mis match that Chris Bosh has almost every night at the beginning of the game.

When he puts up his early numbers, the other defenders try and help out and that pulls them away from the 3 point shooters... And you know what that means...

+ Kyle + wrote:

TheDon008 wrote:I was watching the Ray Allen interview earlier, and he noted that the Heat like to take advantage of the Mis match that Chris Bosh has almost every night at the beginning of the game.

When he puts up his early numbers, the other defenders try and help out and that pulls them away from the 3 point shooters... And you know what that means...

Wow I was even thinking of that, that's a pretty awesome strategy.

King_John wrote:I expect the Heat to win that game by 15-20 points. The Nets are not anywhere near where they think they are.

Btw. If you guys want to read something hilarious go check out the Knicks Forum. They are seriously having a discussion about having the deepest team in the league. Typical delusional Knicks Fan stuff but funny as hell

King_John wrote:I expect the Heat to win that game by 15-20 points. The Nets are not anywhere near where they think they are.

Btw. If you guys want to read something hilarious go check out the Knicks Forum. They are seriously having a discussion about having the deepest team in the league. Typical delusional Knicks Fan stuff but funny as hell