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Chauncey Billups, Carmelo Anthony (below) and the new-look Knicks could very well end up playing LeBron James - who spurned them this offseason - and the Miami Heat in the playoffs. 
Theodorakis/News
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Now that the Knicks are in the playoffs, how far will they go?When the Knicks recently fell out of sixth place and looked like they would avoid playing the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs, some greater power seemed to take over and reposition the two teams for their inevitable playoff encounter. With the Knicks slipping to No. 7, Miami has zeroed in on the No. 2 seed, so the old playoff rivals are back on a collision course.
Before the Heat posted what was largely an unimpressive 108-94 win over the Nets Sunday night in Newark, Dwyane Wade smiled at the way things have been unfolding, with Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire almost destined to be in Miami for Game 1 in less than two weeks.
"It's probably as intense a first-round game as you're going to find," Miami's superstar said. "It was, for many years. There'd be a lot of story lines. The history between Miami and New York. Look at the talent New York has. It'd be great for the game of basketball. And it would be a tough series."
Even if it doesn't see the Knicks, even if Mike D'Antoni's team has the misfortune of finding Boston as its first-round opponent, the Heat will play nothing but tough series this spring. The Lakers might be the two-time defending champs, but no team will be under more pressure to succeed than Miami.
"No one is expected to win like us," Wade said. "The Lakers, even though they're defending back-to-back champs, it's like, yeah, they should win. If they lose, they had a great run and maybe they'll be back next year. But for us, it's a little different."
It's different because Miami has LeBron James. Whether he likes it or not and acknowledges it or not, James' legacy heading into his first playoff run for Team Riley is Game 5 against Boston last spring. The game he told the world he was done with Cleveland. He officially did not move to Miami until two months later, but he sent word to the NBA community on May 11 that he was through with his hometown team.
In the immortal words of Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, James "quit" on the team in Game 5 with one of his worst performances, an abysmal effort that undid all of the good he had done for a franchise that didn't seem to exist before his arrival.
Gilbert's unprecedented attack on James following "The Decision," included the charges that James had tanked in other key playoff moments, against Orlando in 2009 and against Boston in two other games in last year's conference semis. But for Gilbert, Game 5 was the ultimate betrayal. "It was unlike anything in the history of sports for a superstar," he said.
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