[Thanks to Big D for today's preview. Early game! 4pm! -ed.]

Remember when this used to be a big rivalry?  Those days seem like a long time ago.  Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem are the only players left from the championship team (along with Dorrell Wright, who has played 6 minutes all season).  Even Pat Riley has kicked himself upstairs (at least for now . . . we'll see what happens if they keep winning).  The names have changed, but this is still a pretty intriguing matchup.  The Bulls desperately need a win on the road, and this afternoon might be their best chance to get a win on this road trip (4:00 Central, ESPN/Comcase Sportsnet).

The Heat are no longer a joke, and the reason is Dwyane Wade.  By almost any standard, he's been the second best player in the league this season.  He's leading the league in scoring, and he's had to because he hasn't had much help.  Shawn Marion is having the worst season of his career, and Michael Beasley is now coming off the bench because of his weak defense.  Wade has by far the highest Usage Rate in the league, so this team is entirely dependent on him.  If he gets hurt, they may not be much better than the 15 win team of last year.  If he stays healthy all season, he may be the only player who can take the MVP Award away from Lebron James.

This game is on national TV for two reasons - the Rose vs. Wade matchup, and the Rose vs. Beasley matchup (incidentally, after all the bad Bulls-Heat games on national TV last season I'm surprised ESPN dared to go back to this matchup).  The Rose-Wade matchup has gotten plenty of hype and glowing quotes on both sides, but I'm almost as interested in seeing Beasley.  To say the least, there was a vigorous debate on this site about whether to pick Rose or Beasley, and so far, those of us who leaned towards Beasley look like absolute fools.  He's been a lousy defender, which isn't surprising, but he's also been a terrible rebounder.  He's ranks 56th out of 69 power forwards in Rebound Rate (even below Matt's favorite whipping boy, LaMarcus Aldridge).  He's also shown no signs of being the low-post scorer the Bulls would have needed.  I still think he's going to be a very good player, but he may be more of a 3 than a 4.

Blogging With the Enemy:

Ira Winderman

Peninsula is Mightier

Considering that the Bulls have two more games on the road trip after this one, they might want to win today if they want to stay anywhere near .500.  The bottom of the East is better this year, and it's hard to see a 35-win team making the playoffs this year.  This is a winnable game, since the Heat are basically a mediocre team being carried by one incredible player.  Then again, the Bulls have blown so many winnable games on the road this season that I'm not getting my hopes up.