Heat Take 1-0 Lead Despite Lottery Distractions

It is perhaps telling that, the morning after Shaquille O'Neal and his Miami Heat looked strangely dominant in a Game 1 win over the Pistons, the NBA event that garnered the most online attention was the draft lottery, which was won by the Raptors, who now conveniently aren't run by a moron.

We suppose this makes sense. As fans, particularly those in the online world, we tend to be obsessed with the future, and few people are less about the future than Shaq, Antoine Walker and Gary Payton. (By the way, if the Heat win the title, will Shaq retire? Anybody else think that's possible?) But this isn't even a particularly strong draft class, and we are just talking about a bunch of ping-pong balls. Outside of making fun of Isiah Thomas for having traded away the second overall pick, we have a hard time firing ourselves up about it. Besides, without Elgin Baylor or Isiah there, it just didn't seem right.

Heat 91, Pistons 86 [Need4Sheed] Instant Lottery Picks [Critical Fanatic] Party In Toronto [The Big Lead]