4 Quarters - East 1st Round- Knicks vs Heat

7. Knicks vs 2. Heat

1. Will the REAL Miami Heat please stand up? - Well from listening to Coach Erik Spoelstra on NBATV the other night, I would say that he think he's team is ready to go. Well I think that they are ready for the playoffs and they could of been just a little bored with the ending of a long (shortened) season.
2. Can Melo actually lead this team to an upset over the Heat - Melo, Yes. The others, don't know. How Carmelo's been playing lately should scare the other 7 teams in the East. If the Knicks can get some support from their bench and from Amar'e, then this could turn into a 7 game winner takes all series. But if Melo reverts back to the Melo of the Nuggets, then this could end very quickly.
3. Which bench can respond to the pressures that their superstar's collapse down the stretch? - The issue Miami had last season was the fact that their bench was sub-par at most. This season it's a little better, but still isn't where Heat fans can trust it on a consistent basis. As for the Knicks, their issue is can their bench of stars outlast big 3 and the Heat bench. Coaching could be huge in this step right here.
4. Will the 1999 1st Round series repeat itself again? - Well that series was the one of 4 straight years that the Heat and Knicks went toe-to-toe with one another. All of those series went the full distance. For Knicks fans, some would reach and say that this is like 1999. That 99 team came on strong towards the end of the season and they faced a Miami team, that was just like the 2012 Miami team, struggling towards the end of the season. Knicks won in 5 games and went to the NBA Finals. Could history repeat itself or will the Heat put the Knicks to bed?

Confidence Picks: Knicks (31), Heat (11)

Series Prediction: Heat in 6