Pistons - Heat, the Big Boys Finally Meet

So many times, preseason predictions in the NBA turn out to be bunk.

Not this time.

All season, the Pistons and the Miami Heat seemed destined for a rematch in the Eastern Conference finals. And Game 1 at the Palace will make destiny a reality, and it's something the players admit they'd hoped for all along.

''Oh, I definitely wanted this series,'' point guard Chauncey Billups said.

''I think they're the other best team in the Eastern Conference. And when you're the best, you want to play against the other teams that are supposed to be the best. That's what the playoffs are all about,'' he added.

Last season, the Pistons and the Heat forced a winner-take-all Game 7 in Miami. And for much of that game, the Heat led. But in the final quarter, Rasheed Wallace made big plays and Billups hit four free throws late in the game, icing an 88-82 win that ended the Heat's NBA Finals bid.

Since then, the only real constants in South Beach have been superstars Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal. Stan Van Gundy is gone as head coach, replaced in December by president Pat Riley, who spent the summer upending his roster despite its relative success.

He brought in Antoine Walker and Gary Payton. He courted Michael Finley, only to see the veteran guard go to San Antonio. And he parted ways with key players Eddie Jones and Damon Jones.

Now, the Heat is the same team wearing a different costume. The same two dominant players, Wade and O'Neal, run the show. But the supporting cast and the director have changed.

The Heat says this year's series is not about getting revenge for last season.

''They beat us last year,'' O'Neal said, ''but we are not worried about just beating the people that beat us. We want to win the whole thing and whoever is in our way, that is who we want to try to beat. So it's not really revenge. We know we have to go through them and they have to go through us.''

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