LOS ANGELES -- Lakers forward Matt Barnes said beforehand that whichever team won Saturday's showdown at the Staples Center, "people would make speculation like the winner could win the Finals and all kinds of crazy stuff.''
It doesn't seem too crazy after what Miami did to the Lakers in a Christmas crushing.
Just a month ago, the Heat looked like dead meat. Miami was 9-8 and perhaps American Airlines Arena officials were looking for a circus or The Ice Capades to fill arena dates in June.
Hold off on those calls. After Saturday's 96-80 wipeout of the Lakers, the hype surrounding the Heat suddenly looks a lot more real even if nobody on the team wants to admit it.
"You get whiplash if you follow you guys and your opinions from game to game,'' said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra. "So we're not concerned what you guys are commenting on and writing about.''
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The Heat have won 14 of 15 games since their lackluster start, but it's the way Miami is winning that is throwing fear into the rest of the NBA. Everybody knew the Heat would have plenty of scoring with the trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, but it's defense that's doing it.
Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/12/25/heat-fire-up-nba-finals-speculation/
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