An Era Ends in Miami

By Justin Sherman (@JShermOfficial)

For years, I’ve visualized what this moment would look and feel like.

The ten minute standing ovation.

The crowd chanting “M-V-P” until their lungs gave out.

Maybe a little confetti, and even more tears.

Sentimental thoughts from number 3, standing on the logo he helped make famous.

Instead -- emptiness, disillusionment and heartbreak. 

Your NBA Eastern Conference Semifinal Primer

After carrying Toronto past Indiana in Game 7, can DeMar DeRozan top Hassan Whiteside and the Miami Heat?

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

Ed. Note- We know that the second round has already begun in the West, but we wanted to wait until all the NBA's playoff matchups were set to post our previews. Deal with it.

Anyways, here are Adam's breakdowns of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

#1 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. #4 Atlanta Hawks

After sweeping the Detroit Pistons in arguably the closest four-game, best-of-seven, series in NBA history, the Cavaliers are well on their way to consecutive Eastern Conference titles.

Although the Cavaliers are under a different head coach this postseason, they have a stronger, healthier roster in 2016. Of course, they have LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, but Kevin Love seems to be the x-factor.

Eight Potential LeBron Landing Spots Ranked by "Fun Factor"

LeBron returning to Miami with Bosh and Wade seems like the most likely outcome, but that's no fun...

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

As you may or may not know, I am a fair weather Heat fan, so my obvious preference in this game of LeBachelor would be for King James to give the final rose to Pat Riley and re-up for another run with his boys D-Wade and Bosh.

That being said, LBJ returning to the Heat, as presently constructed, is just about the least interesting result in the entire LeBron derby. So, in the interest of "fun," I am removing my slight bias and ranking LeBron's potential free agency destinations based on which would be the most interesting.

Here we go!

The (Probably Way Too Long) 2014 NBA Finals Preview

We're back. I'm not sure we ever left.

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

12 months and 100+ games later, we're right back to where we started - Miami and San Antonio for all the marbles.

There are two prevailing opinions about a Finals rematch. Some people think "wait, I don't want to watch these two teams play each other again - last year's series was so amazing, there's no possible way to top that. Let's get some new blood in here." Others think "Last year's series was amazing, but it was so incredibly close that I'm still not even sure the better team won. I need seven more games of that to make sure."

Personally, I'm more in the second group. Yes, I realize that there's probably not much chance that this series can top last year's seven-game instant classic. But even after watching all seven games twice last June (once live, once again the next morning) and then a third time over the last week, I'm STILL not sure which team was better.

For the most part, this year's series is going to be a carbon-copy of last year's series, with a few small changes. Last year's series was as close as a series can be, with Miami barely prevailing. This year, San Antonio has upgraded Gary Neal and Cory Joseph to Marco Belinelli and Patty Mills (although Neal was huge in the Finals last year - he was 14-for-30 from three, with many of them coming in huge moments). Miami has lost Mike Miller and replaced his minutes with Rashard Lewis (but I'm not sure if you can call that a downgrade with Lewis making nine of his last 16 attempts from three, and Miami being +58 in his last 100 minutes on the floor). Manu Ginobili is playing well, but so is Dwyane Wade. There are a few subtle changes, but they wash each other out. The only truly relevant points are home-court advantage shifting to San Antonio (more on that later), and Tony Parker's semi-questionable ankle.

Eastern Conference Finals Preview: (1) Indiana Pacers vs. (2) Miami Heat

Dwyane Wade (left) and LeBron James (right) are looking for a fourth straight trip to the NBA Finals.

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

By The Numbers:

Indiana:
56-26 (35-6 Home; 21-20 Road)
PPG: 96.7 (24th); PPG Allowed: 92.4 (2nd)
+4.3 Average Scoring Margin (7th)
Off Rating: 101.4 (22nd); Def Rating: 96.8 (1st)
+4.6 Net Efficiency Rating (7th)

Miami:
54-28 (32-9 Home; 22-19 Road)
PPG: 102.2 (12th); PPG Allowed: 97.4 (5th)
+4.8 Average Scoring Margin (T-4th)
Off Rating: 109.0 (2nd); Def Rating: 102.9 (11th)
+6.1 Net Efficiency Rating (4th)

Season Series: Tied 2-2
Indiana 90, Miami 84 (December 10)
Miami 97, Indiana 94 (December 18)
Indiana 84, Miami 83 (March 26)
Miami 98, Indiana 86 (April 11)

East Round 2 Preview: (2) Miami Heat vs. (6) Brooklyn Nets

Chris Bosh isn't the most heralded member of the Miami Heat, but he plays a pivotal role in this series.

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

By The Numbers

Miami:
54-28 (32-9 Home; 22-19 Road)
PPG: 102.2 (12th); PPG Allowed: 97.4 (5th)
+4.8 Average Scoring Margin (T-4th)
Off Rating: 109.0 (2nd); Def Rating: 102.9 (11th)
+6.1 Net Efficiency Rating (4th)

Brooklyn:
44-38 (28-13 Home; 16-25 Road)
PPG: 98.5 (21st); PPG Allowed: 99.5 (11th)
-1.0 Average Scoring Margin (19th)
Off Rating: 104.4 (14th); Def Rating: 104.9 (19th)
-0.5 Net Efficiency Rating (17th)

Season Series: Brooklyn 4-0
Brooklyn 101, Miami 100 (November 1)
Brooklyn 104, Miami 95 - 2OT (January 10)
Brooklyn 96, Miami 95 (March 12)
Brooklyn 88, Miami 87 (April 8)

East Round 1 Preview: (2) Miami Heat vs. (7) Charlotte Bobcats

Dwyane Wade needs to be at full strength for Miami to make another run. This series is his first test.

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

By the Numbers

Miami:
54-28 (32-9 Home; 22-19 Road)
PPG: 102.2 (12th); PPG Allowed: 97.4 (5th)
+4.8 Average Scoring Margin (T-4th)
Off Rating: 109.0 (2nd); Def Rating: 102.9 (11th)
+6.1 Net Efficiency Rating (4th)

Charlotte:
43-39 (25-16 Home; 18-23 Road)
PPG: 96.9 (23rd); PPG Allowed: 97.1 (4th)
-0.2 Average Scoring Margin (16th)
Off Rating: 101.2 (24th); Def Rating: 101.2 (6th)
+0.0 Net Efficiency Rating (16th)

Season Series: Miami 4-0
Miami 97, Charlotte 81 (November 16)
Miami 99, Charlotte 98 (December 1)
Miami 104, Charlotte 96 - OT (January 18)
Miami 124, Charlotte 107 (March 3)

Studs and Duds: A Wimbledon Cat Fight

By Jeremy Conlin and Joe Parello

Studs and Duds is a weekly feature on Suite Sports. Who had a good week? Who had a bad week?

Studs

Chris "Birdman" Andersen and Shane Battier

Obviously, LeBron James was the biggest key to Miami's Game 7 victory over San Antonio, but these two guys were huge as well. In fact, the Heat outscored the Spurs by 12 with Battier on the floor and by 11 when The Birdman checked in. That's even better than the impressive +8 the Heat were with LeBron in the game.

NBA Finals Game 6: What The Hell Just Happened?

Ray Allen cemented his legacy as one of the great big-time shooters in history.

By Jeremy Conlin

At 12:19 a.m. Wednesday, Dylan Murphy of ESPN's TrueHoop Network (Hardwood Paroxysm, HoopChalk), SB Nation (Poasting and Toasting), The Classical, and Knicks Now posted the following to Twitter: 

No article tomorrow - no matter how great the writer - will be able to capture what just happened.
— Dylan Murphy (@DylanTMurphy) June 19, 2013

Dylan is somewhat of a friend of mine, insomuch as that we are each aware of the other's existence and we've have interacted on the internet and met in person once. I very much respect his opinion.

That being said, I'm going to try. I'm going to fail - miserably - but I'm going to try. What follows is my poor attempt at describing what it was like to experience Tuesday night's Game 6. And I say "experience," not "watch," because "watch" doesn't even remotely do it justice. It was a complete surrender of agency. Anyway, here goes:

Points In The Paint: Game 5 Recap

Danny Green is a mean lean three-shooting machine.

Here are five (mostly) unrelated observations from Game 5.

1. Danny Green Is Not Human and I Don’t Care What Your Evidence Says

Seriously, he’s shooting 25-for-38 from three in the series, which is just under 66 percent. It’s the most ridiculous display of unsustainable shooting I’ve ever seen.

Taking You to School Podcast: Game 5 and the Heat vs History

Join Suite Sports' Joe Parello and Jeremy Conlin for their weekly podcast with Roundball Daily's Kels Dayton. This week, the three discuss game five of the NBA Finals, and tackle the debates of Jordan vs LeBron and Kobe vs D-Wade.

Also, what to make of Doc Rivers, KG and Paul Pierce all possibly joining the Clippers.

Listen to internet radio with Real Fans Sports Radio on BlogTalkRadio

Studs and Duds: Dump the Schwab?

Sports trivia guru Howie Schwab was the most high-profile victim of ESPN's recent layoffs.

By Jeremy Conlin and Joe Parello

Studs and Duds is a weekly feature on Suite Sports. Who had a good week? Who had a bad week?

Studs

Jozy Altidore

Altidore is America's highest-scoring player in European football (Just ahead of Team USA teammate Clint Dempsey), but scoring for the national team hasn't come easily of late. 19-months without a goal had American soccer fans riled up that the national side's most talented player may not be bringing it on the world's biggest stage.

NBA Finals: Notes from Game 2

Chris Bosh had a strong Game 2 and is a key to the series for Miami.

By Bennett Corcoran

•    While his numbers in the first half may seem oddly pedestrian as LeBron James scored just four points on 2-7 shooting, it’s not as if he played poorly during that stretch. While he didn’t shoot the ball particularly well thanks to the lockdown defense of Kawhi Leonard, James drew double teams seemingly every time he touched the ball or the Heat ran a screen for him, opening up other players for wide open looks. While I was expecting LeBron to have one of “those games” in which he effortlessly drops 35+ points and takes over the third quarter like he has done on so many other occasions, he still orchestrated a huge run with Mario Chalmers to blow Game 2 out of proportion, even if the gaudy point totals weren’t there last night. Acting almost as a decoy, LeBron caused the Spurs to abandon shooters in the corners and leave unguarded Miami players under the hoop.

The (Probably Way Too Long) Suite Sports 2013 NBA Finals Preview

The 2013 NBA Finals could come down to coaching.

By Jeremy Conlin

Is it just me or did we take the circuitous route and end up at the same point we all thought we would end up at from the beginning of the season?

The Heat are taking on [insert strong Western Conference Champion here] for the NBA Championship. Yawn. Right?

We might have squabbled about which team would represent the Western Conference – I picked the Lakers and was very happy to be wrong. My second pick would have been San Antonio, and the popular pick seemed to be Oklahoma City. But we all knew we were basically going to end up with an iconic Heat-Somebody matchup. Either the storied, star-studded Lakers, the up-and-coming star-studded Thunder, or the Old Guard of the Spurs.

Lil Wayne Goes HAM on Heat; Says He Slept With Bosh's Wife

By Joe Parello

Wow.

So, apparently Lil Wayne- multiplatinum rapper, Young Money Millionaire, and frequent drinker of "Tha Purple Drank"- is not happy with the Miami Heat.

In an on-stage tirade over All Star weekend, the Young Money megastar ripped into the Heat, claiming that he had been banned from all NBA events due to a request by the franchise. Weezy has had several incidents with the Heat and the league, beginning in 2011 when he grew angry at Heat superstars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade for not coming over and speaking to him while they were, uh, playing basketball at the world's highest level.