About a week ago people were writing off the Miami Heat, especially since they were down 2-1 to the Indiana Pacers.  What a difference a couple of convincing wins make as the Heat have taken control of their series with Indiana, and proven that they are resilient even without Chris Bosh.

Last night the Heat won their second consecutive game against the Pacers with a 115-83 victory.  They are now just one win away from winning the series and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals for a second consecutive season.  After their loss in game 3 to Indiana some people were heavily criticizing the Heat for going down 2-1 in the series to an average team like the Pacers.

As a reminder to all of those critics, this is the playoffs and every team consists of some of the best players in the world.  All of the teams in the playoffs step up their intensity, and no matter how mediocre their regular season was, this is a whole new season, and everyone and their brother wants to win a championship.

One of the most significant tests for any team in the post season is to win a series when you are down and not playing well.  It builds character and proves that your squad is able to get hot when they are faced with the challenge of playing out of desperation, rather than with the series lead.

There is no doubt that the Heat are not quite as good without Chris Bosh.  Last season they cruised through the eastern conference playoffs until they met the Mavericks in the finals.  This postseason is a different story though.  They will defeat the Pacers and move on to the conference finals where I feel that the Celtics will give them all they can handle.

If the Heat make it back to the Finals they will have their work cut out for them taking on either the red hot San Antonio Spurs or the young, up and coming Thunder.  There are only a couple guarantees in life, we all know what they are.  There is no guarantee that you can buy a championship, and that your team will win with an abundance of super stars.  Getting hot at the right time, and chemistry are everything in this league.

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