Sixers and Heat meet in Game 1

For all the criticism Miami endured this season, if you look at the final standings, you will see 58 wins next to the Heat's name, a Southeast Division championship, the second seed in the Eastern Conference and
a date with a banged-up, overmatched Philadelphia team in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, which begins this afternoon in the shadow of South Beach.

Sure, Miami struggled mightily in close games and Erik Spoelstra is never going to inspire the kind of swagger big time coaches often do, but if you are not afraid of this team, something is wrong.

With all due respect to Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant, LeBron James remains the best basketball player on the planet and his running mate, Dwyane Wade, is not far behind. The third member of "The Heatles," power forward Chris Bosh also quietly put together another solid season.

"When those three guys got together last summer, Saturday [the first game of the playoffs] is what they were shooting for," Sixers coach Doug Collins said. "They did get through the regular season, but they're pinning their hopes on starting Saturday, that they can make a championship run."

With the No. 2 seed secured, Miami rested its three superstars in the regular season finale on Wednesday against Toronto and still routed the lowly Raptors, 97-79.

It will be the role players that will likely determine Miami's fate this season and they excelled north of the border in their final tune-up as sharp-shooter Eddie House made seven three-pointers and finished with a career-high 35 points, while veteran big man Juwan Howard chipped in 18 points for the Heat, whose four-game winning streak to end the season ensured they would finish with their best mark since the 2004-05.

Philadelphia, meanwhile, captured its third playoff berth in four years under first-year head coach Collins, but limped into the postseason, losing five of its final six games.

The Sixers (41-41) also lost a chance to secure their first season above .500 since going 43-39 in 2004-05. The team did by improve by 14 wins over last season's disaster, however.

Philadelphia's best player, Andre Iguodala, missed the final two games with right knee tendinitis and high-scoring sixth man Lou Williams has been sidelined with a strained right hamstring since April 2.

"Those injuries put a damper on what we did this year," Collins said.

Both Iguodala and Williams will need to be firing on all cylinders if the Sixers hope to be competitive with the Heat, who swept Philadelphia in a three-game season series in 2010-11, winning by an average of 10 points a
contest.

"They are dangerous, no question about it," Wade said of the Sixers. "First two games are in Miami, we've got to come out and take care of business."

The teams have never met in the postseason.

Game 2 in the series will be Monday in South Beach.