Heat Rebuilt for One Reason: Detroit

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">When it comes to key dates on the NBA schedule, Heat coach Pat Riley admits to breaking out his Sharpie.

"We do circle the calendar," he said, "maybe 10 or 15 games a year that are significant."

His players, by contrast, need far less ink.

Seemingly every move the Heat made in the offseason, every adjustment, came with one team in mind -- the Detroit Pistons.

Tonight, the Heat opens its four-game season series against the Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

It is the first regular-season meeting between the teams since Detroit came back in the final two minutes to win Game 7 of last season's Eastern Conference finals at AmericanAirlines Arena and advance to the NBA Finals against the Spurs.

"It is a game I'll never forget as long as I play the game of basketball," power forward Udonis Haslem said before the team headed to Detroit. "Obviously it's always in the back of our mind, how close we were last year."

With Detroit a league-best 23-3, tonight's nationally televised game sets up for the Pistons as little more than another opportunity to flex some muscle.

But for the Heat, as it works center Shaquille O'Neal back into the lineup and adjusts to Riley's sideline arrival, it is the opportunity to make a statement.

"It's a measuring stick for us," O'Neal said, "because if we want to go to where we're trying to go, we know we have to get past them."

The Heat had pushed ahead of the Pistons in last season's best-of-7 series, taking a 3-2 lead before a rib injury to guard Dwyane Wade and a lingering thigh injury for O'Neal proved too debilitating.

"It's always going to be a memory, no question about it," Wade said. "We had chances to win it and we didn't -- one game away from the Finals.

"So of course it's going to stick with you. But you move on from it. You have a different team this year."

While the Pistons have remained mostly intact from the unit that won the 2004 NBA title, save for the coaching switch from Larry Brown to Flip Saunders, Riley, in his role as team president, dramatically overhauled his roster, largely with an eye on overtaking Detroit.

"If I did it perfectly, I probably would have gotten a couple of other guys," he said, with free-agent guard Michael Finley among those who got away.

The Pistons couldn't help but note the Heat's turnover -- and intent.

"I don't think there's no other reason for them to change," guard Chauncey Billups said at Wednesday's practice. "They won [59] games and the only team they struggled with was us, so I figured they were trying to make changes to get past us.

"Obviously we've got some history, being in that tough, grind-it-out series last year."

Gone from last season's Game 7 roster for the Heat are Eddie Jones, Damon Jones, Keyon Dooling, Rasual Butler, Steve Smith and Christian Laettner. In their places are Jason Williams, James Posey, Gary Payton, Antoine Walker, Jason Kapono and Wayne Simien.

"They have a new coach," Haslem said. "We have a new team."

But many Heat veterans remain, including center Alonzo Mourning.

"The only difference between Detroit and us," he said, "is they won a championship and they've been together longer than we have, which gives them somewhat of an edge on us.

"They've been in tough situations, trenches together. We're building toward that."</div>

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