EASTERN CONFERENCE SOUTHEAST DIVISION Miami For the first time in five years the Miami Heat are not the prohibitive favorite to win the Eastern Conference, never mind the Southeast Division, something that had been a formality. In Year One of the post-LeBron James Era, it would be easy to write off the Heat and some already have. That’s not necessarily a good idea. While there’s no quantifying how much LeBron meant—and it’s a lot—Miami is anything but an afterthought. There is still a lot of talent in South Beach, including Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, two-thirds of their big three, and most of the team that won back-to-back NBA Championships and four straight Eastern Conference crowns. There also is Pat Riley, who has rebuilt post-superstar departure before and has already made the first steps, bringing in Luol Deng and Josh McRoberts. Most of all, there is a group of motivated pros that has heard all about how they have no chance to win. Defense A trademark of the Miami Heat under Erik Spoelstra has always been defense. During the 2009-10 season the Heat ranked second in the entire NBA in points allowed (94.2 ppg) and field goal percentage (.439), were fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.342) and were just out of the top 10 in turnovers. The 2014-15 Heat have shutdown defenders and are even going to be okay at the 3, where they’ve brought in Deng, a 2011-12 All-Defensive Second-Team Team selection while with the Chicago Bulls, and McRoberts, who was tough on the glass for the Charlotte Bobcats last year — even laying a nasty lick on a certain marquee player on the Heat in their playoff matchup last spring. Chris Andersen has always been tough in the lane. He led the Heat in blocks per Chris Bosh STARTERS G Norris Cole G Dwyane Wade C Chris Bosh F Luol Deng F Udonis Haslem BENCH C Chris Andersen G Shannon Brown G Mario Chalmers G Andre Dawkins F James Ennis F Danny Granger C Justin Hamilton F Josh McRoberts G Shabazz Napier F Shawne Williams
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