The Miami Heat prepare to see Dwyane Wade in another uniform

Newly minted Eastern Conference Player of the Week Goran Dragic leads the Miami Heat into Cleveland, to take on former players LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Cavaliers.

The Miami Heat are currently tied for first place in the Southeast Division with the Washington Wizards, and a quality win against a hot Cleveland Cavaliers team would do them good going forward. While the Heat haven’t been completely terrible, they’ve lacked a consistency that well-coached teams tend to have.

Dragic has been on a roll though. He averaged 23.7 points in the Heat’s last three games, all wins, including one that snapped the Boston Celtics 16-game winning streak.

This game is another for Dwyane Wade against his former team in a new uniform. After seeing it last season, when Wade was a member of the Chicago Bulls, it’s still a new experience for head coach Erik Spoelstra.

"“This is like the Twilight Zone,” Spoelstra said. “Every time he’s in a new uniform you’re like, ‘OK, but not that team.’ It will never seem right. For me, I hate it. But I’m happy for Dwyane. I’m happy for his family. I think he’s in a good spot. I think the role that he’s in is going to be one of the most impactful roles in the league.”"

Truthfully, the wording of Spoelstra’s comments seemed a bit weird.

It’s understandable that Spoelstra and Wade have a long history, but the Heat made it clear they didn’t value Wade as much as he valued himself, or even as much as Spoelstra did. So seeing him in new uniform shouldn’t be surprising or disappointing.

While the Cavaliers’ defense has improved since inserting Jose Calderon into their starting lineup, there are still areas where the Heat can attack. The driving ability of Dragic and Dion Waiters could prove to be huge, with Cleveland’s weakness being interior defense. This is a game where the combination of those two and Hassan Whiteside, can make this a competitive battle.

Obviously, any team that James is a part of serves as a challenge. But with his team playing the way they have the past few weeks (coming in with an eight-game win streak), the Heat will need to play their best basketball of the season to take this one.

Then again, anything can happen in this league.

Next: Rallying Cry: Send Miami Heat's Wayne Ellington to All-Star Weekend

The Cavaliers will host the Heat tonight, at 7 PM ET.