Dwyane Wade couldn't wait until Sunday's Game 1 tipoff against the arch-rival Indiana Pacers to instigate the trash talking. In fact, it may be part of his strategy.
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A Miami Herald blog on Saturday reported on the dislike between the Pacers and Wade's Miami Heat as they prepare for their Eastern Conference Finals series. The first two games of the series will be at Indiana's Banker's Life Field House on Sunday and Tuesday.
But Wade, who has won three NBA championships with the Heat - the most of any player heading into the series - says the animosity could be a factor in the series.
And if that's the case, the edge goes to the two-time defending world champion Heat.
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"We're not a young team where dislike should get in the way of us winning basketball games," Wade said, as reported by the Herald. "That's when you're younger and you're coming up. That's how Boston had us, where there was a dislike for them and mentally it got us off our games. We learned from that and we learned from them.
"No matter what goes on in the games, the chippiness, the back and forth, that's part of the game, but you got to keep your head in it and continue to move forward."
The Pacers worked all season to earn home-court advantage for this series, but nearly imploded over the last two months trying to accomplish that task.
Center Roy Hibbert called out unidentified teammates as selfish during Indiana's regular-season slump, and then Pacers president Larry Bird's comments about coach Frank Vogel were interpreted as Vogel losing his job if the Pacers were knocked out prior to reaching the Eastern Conference finals.
The No. 8 Atlanta Hawks pushed the Pacers to seven games, and the Washington Wizards took Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semis, in which Hibbert had zero points and zero rebounds in 18 minutes. That prompted the Pacers to call out Hibbert, and another story arose that George may have slept with Hibbert's fiancée.
The Heat finally got their act together, disposing of the Wizards in six games. If their detoured journey to the Eastern finals hasn't made them mentally tougher to handle a series where on-court chippiness is the only adversity, then Wade will be proven correct.
Do you think the Heat have the advantage over the Pacers if the series turns into a street brawl? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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