I may be biased and a tad bit melodramatic, but...
...the fate of all mankind rests upon this game. The valiant Celtics face the villainous, backstabbing Heat in a battle of epic proportions. If the Three Musketeers and little D'Artagnan cannot vanquish the Three Pretenders, the NBA will crumble, the stock market will crash, and our planet might very well plunge into eternal darkness. If they should scale this latest challenge, fight back the trolls, dragons, and Eddie Curry's appetite, then maybe there's hope for the world as we know it. Because remember what Andy Dufrane taught us. Hope... is a good thing. (cue score by John Williams)
Ok, ok. In some ways, this is just another game on the schedule. But on some level, you know that these teams really don't like each other. The Heat are the upstarts that ended our season last year and celebrated like they had won their first of 7 or 8 or 9 titles. Oops.
In truth, we could sweep the April games and still get swept out of the playoffs by the Heat. Or the exact reverse could happen and everything in between. But still, there's always going to be a little bit extra in this matchup the same way it was when the Pistons faced the aging Celtics in the late 80's.
Matchup to watch: You could say Rajon Rondo vs. Norris Cole since the rookie dropped 20 points on us in the 2nd game of the season. But a lot has happened since then and while I'm sure Rondo hasn't forgotten that, I'm not sure if Cole is that critical to the Heat's success. I'm going to want to focus on Kevin Garnett vs. Chris Bosh because when things are going well, KG eats Bosh for breakfast and picks his teeth with Bosh's bony elbows.
Let the game begin. Go Celtics. The world is counting on you.