The thinking in the East in recent seasons has been about waiting out the Cleveland Cavaliers, seeing what LeBron James would do next, before any visions of conference ascension.
But with the Cavaliers struggling this postseason and James' Northeast Ohio future anything but certain, the Miami Heat are getting a sense that what they are facing in this opening-round NBA playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers could, indeed, be the next big thing.
"They're good. They're special," guard Dwyane Wade said in the wake of the Heat falling to a 3-1 deficit in the best-of-seven series heading into Tuesday's Game 5 at the Wells Fargo Center. "They're a good group and they put the right team together.
"I've said that multiple times. Ultimately, sometimes the playoffs become too big for certain guys or some guys don't know how to match the intensity of the playoffs, or whatever the case may be. They play that way already. They already play to that intense level."
While Kyrie Irving's troublesome knee and Gordon Hayward's injection into the mix could yet turn the Boston Celtics into the eventual post-LeBron leaders in the East, the one-two punch of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons appears to have time on the side of the 76ers.
"I can't say nothing negative about them at all," Wade said.
Philadelphia coach Brett Brown routinely has spent his media sessions the past week gushing about his bounty.
"I think that those two players have the chance to be great and they are ours," he said. "Joel Embiid has no right to be doing some of those things he is doing.
"I think Ben Simmons is one of those players who rarely gets tired. He doesn't seem to fatigue."
And like the Heat during their Big Three seasons with Wade, James and Chris Bosh, when contributing pieces such as Mike Miller, Shane Battier, Ray Allen and Chris Andersen were eager to jump aboard, the 76ers found the same response from complementary players such as J.J. Redick, Ersan Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli.
Simmons said such value was evident in Game 4, from Redick's team-high 24 points to Belinelli's 10 to a momentum-changing 3-pointer at the end of the third period from Ilyasova.
"I think them staying with it and staying locked in the whole game," Simmons said, "no matter what the situation was _ being down 10, 15, whatever it is _ having guys that can stay mentally in the game and obviously knock down shots was huge for us."
