Nobody in East to scare Heat

I cling to hope in the same desperate fashion as Leonardo DiCaprio did to flotsam when that big boat hit that even bigger chunk of ice.

I yearn for justice, truth and the American way (albeit with a watered-down Australian accent), like that dude who could fly and wore extremely tight tights.

I beseech the Lord with even greater passion than Charlton Heston could muster on that lofty mountain or reasonably tall stage set.

However, none shall come to pass as my passion play for the NBA peters out and evil triumphs over good.

I honestly thought, before this season began, that my Boston Celtics stood a puncher's chance of beating the most contrived team of all-time, the Miami Heat, in the Eastern Conference playoffs and making the basketball world a better place.

As the Celts weakened through season-ending injuries (Rajon Rondo, Jared Sullinger and Leandro Barbosa) and the over-protection of aging legs (Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett), the LeBron James-inspired Heat just kept growing stronger and stronger like your choice, pick one Alien, Predator or Blob.

Now, simply to reach the Heat, seventh-seeded Boston will have to go through the surging New York Knicks, who have little sympathy for a team that has beat it up for more than half a decade and boasts the NBA's leading scorer this year in Carmelo Anthony.

Then, if Boston manages to miraculously climb that obstacle, the taller and stronger Indiana Pacers will more than likely be looming.

Meanwhile, the Heat will be skipping through the playoff garden plucking the petals off the woefully outclassed Milwaukee Bucks in the first round and then the winner of a battle of attrition - and the best matchup of the opening playoff act in the East - between Brooklyn and Chicago.

Despite every physician on the planet saying he's fit enough to play after recovering from knee surgery, the Bulls' MVP guard Derrick Rose thinks not. Toss in hobbling center Joakim Noah and another potential Heat slayer is no more.

Realistically, the only teams out there that might be able to push Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals are Indiana and New York, because the former has size up front and the latter a star (Melo) who can almost match LeBron.

But that just ain't gonna happen. The Heat are going to sweep through the East and probably to back-to-back titles. Meanwhile. I will be working on a script in which the good guys win in 2013-14.

Cue Celine Dion: "Every night in my dreams. I see you, I feel you. That is how I know you go on."

Tym Glaser is a senior sports copy editor who sincerely hopes there is a team out West that can humble the Heat, but he thinks not. He can be contacted at tymglaser@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/20/2013 page24)