NBA: Heat greet hot Dallas in rematch

MIAMI – It’s been seven months since the Miami Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA finals.

Seven long months, to be exact.

“Seems forever ago,” Heat guard Dwyane Wade said.

While those glorious memories from winning the NBA finals might seem a bit hazy to the Heat these days, given that they’re 19-21 and mired in third place in the Southeast Division, the Mavericks certainly remember the image of Miami players dancing on Dallas’ home floor in celebration.

So when the NBA’s best team from last season faces the best team so far this season today in Miami, the Mavericks will look for some tiny measure of revenge.

“We’ve got a totally different team than we had last season,” said Dallas guard Jason Terry, whose team is 33-8 overall, 19-1 in its last 20 games. “I mean, it will be in the back of your mind, but what can you do? They’re not going to give up their rings if we beat them.”

At least one of the integral parts of last season’s finals won’t be around. Heat coach Pat Riley is recovering from a procedure to remove cartilage from his knee and a subsequent hip-replacement surgery.

But Miami may get another key face back. Center Shaquille O’Neal is listed as day-to-day, said interim coach Ron Rothstein, and it’s possible that he’ll return following a 33-game hiatus following surgery to repair torn knee cartilage.

Even if O’Neal plays, he’ll be rusty. That’s one of the reasons why Mavs guard Jerry Stackhouse – who was suspended for one game of the finals after tackling O’Neal on a fast break – said this game will be missing some of its luster.

“The second meeting will be more of an indicator of the two teams,” Stackhouse said. “When Shaq gets back into the mix, you’ll be able to tell more. Will we see the team we saw last year when they were clicking on all cylinders in the finals?”

They clearly aren’t clicking on all cylinders now – while Dallas is. The Mavericks are 26-0 when outshooting opponents, 26-1 when outrebounding foes and 28-2 when holding teams to less than 100 points.

“They’re arguably the best team right now,” Heat forward Antoine Walker said. “They’ve been able to stay injury-free. They’ve been able to add their new pieces and not lose a beat.”