During the 2005-06 season, the Heat had started out 11-10 before Stan Van Gundy stepped down for “family reasons” and Pat Riley took over the reins of the team. From that point on, Riley guided them to a 30-19 record before getting destroyed by 36 points, 112-76 by the Mavericks in Dallas on February 9, 2006.

After the demoralizing, nationally-televised debacle, the players held a team meeting. Udonis Haslem is credited as having been a huge part of the discussion, demanding that his teammates be accountable.

What followed is history. Miami went on to win their next ten games, and fifteen of their next sixteen. They developed their “15 Strong” message that fueled their passion and united them as a team, and eventually, with the dynamic, Herculean efforts of Dwyane Wade, took a six-game NBA Finals series from those self-same Dallas Mavericks to win the franchise’s first title. (more…)

This isn’t surprising, considering both the Heat and the Magic boast starting lineups filled with All-Stars, and have benches filled with talented players as well. Simply put, they’re quite similar in many respects.

What isn’t similar, is how Orlando has come out and played in their season-opener. (more…)