The Most - H(e)ated Team in the NBA

L to R: Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade & LeBron James

Ask any NBA fan, this question: Who do you want to win the 2011 NBA championship? The fan would most likely, unless they are a fan or a resident of the city, will say the Miami Heat. Before the 2011 season started, the Miami Heat acquired two of the most sought after free agents in all the NBA. One of the two free agents was Lebron James. The media coverage on what team he'll play for can be paralleled to that of a major world event. A one hour ESPN show, aptly titled "The Decision" was produced, solely for that reason. The other free agent, whom many fans, to a certain degree, would say 'thank you' for not displaying a pompous attitude toward his decision, was Chris Bosh. Already on the Miami Heat was  2006 NBA Champion Dwayne Wade. Now that Lebron James, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade are teammates (calling themselves The Big 3), and for the ride that Lebron took everyone on, on top of that, their WWE style introduction to the city of Miami, most fans think, rightfully so, that the Heat are paying for championships. As a result, NBA fans dislike them and are rooting against them, but which team can defeat the self-proclaimed - Big 3, in the playoffs? 

L to R: Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett & Ray Allen

The team, most fans, have faith in accomplishing this task of defeating these giants, is the team that had their number in the regular season - The Boston Celtics.  The Celtics won the 2008 NBA Championships and were defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2010 NBA Finals. The Celtics came back to prominence when they added two players to their roster, which already boasted a superstar, thus, creating the Boston Celtics Big 3 - Ray Allen, Kevin Garnet and Paul Pierce. One can say that the Celtics' Big 3 are no match for the Heats' younger, more athletic Big 3, but that argument won't have that much validity, because the Celtics beat the Heat, three out of four times in the regular season. In addition, the Celtics have what the Miami Heat want, and that is, team chemistry. Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett were acquired in 2007, whereas Lebron James and Chris Bosh were acquired by the Heat in 2010, giving the Celtic teammates four years of playing with each other as oppose to almost a year for the Heat's new acquisitions. Not only do they have chemistry, they have tremendous talent with a lot of playoff experience under their belt, during that four year span. With that said, the NBA fans put their hope on the Celtics to slay this new three headed dragon that is the Miami Heat's Big 3.

The Boston Celtics defeated the New York Knicks in four games in the first round, and the Miami Heat defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in five games in the first round. The two teams next match up? You guessed it, with each other. The twist is, since the Heat were a higher seed (2) than the Celtics seed (3), they get home field advantage, even though the Celtics beat them three out of four times. So far, only two games of a best of seven series have been played between these two teams; Sunday - May 1st and Tuesday - May 3rd, and the results are not what those NBA fans want, which is the Heat winning both in Miami. Now the series heads north to Boston, where they will play (guaranteed two more) three games and upon completion, will head back to Miami for the final two games. With the Heat up by two games, will the Celtics pull off a comeback to give all those NBA fans what they want or will the Heat show them that a new 'Big 3' has arrived? However, do not count out the Boston Celtics because the NBA is "where amazing happens."