Once the pressure was at its highest and the flame burned at its peak, the Miami Heat were able to pull through adversity. 

A two-game losing streak created sudden doubt. Hope of championship aspirations faltered. A cast of the “Big Three” was forced missing and a new identity had to be reborn in moment’s notice to keep the streak for a Finals reappearance alive. 

Then came Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals versus the Indiana Pacers. Leading up the media rode the departing Pacers bandwagon, clamoring they were the better hand of the two, while placing incompetence on the Heat as a team. 

Alarms resonated locally placing blame on head coach Erik Spoelstra, Dwyane Wade after a non-Wade performance in Games 2 and 3 -- the worst of his career -- and the Heat’s supporting cast (Udonis Haslem, Shane Battier, and Mike Miller). It was a game of resurgence and resilience marked with chips on shoulders. But not at immediate glance.

Halfway through it seemed as if the Heat hadn’t change from their recent lackluster performances. Already outnumbered in the scoreboard from the beginning till halftime, nothing clicked right. A must win game to reverse a potential 3-1 series fall. Something had to show.

The duo turned it around in the third quarter, scoring all of the Heat’s points except for 8 the rest of the game. Both Wade and LeBron James attacked with no resistance. They didn’t conform during the struggle. They raced right at it and didn’t turn back without a fight. 

It was what Heat nation had been waiting momentously for. A return to greatness and elitism. All was back to normalcy, at least in the Miami backdrop, intimidation struck fear in the eyes of Indiana. They knew if the Heat could return to a form as dynamic as this, the games would be all but over. Miami went on to win three straight taking back the series lead eliminating the Pacers.

The momentum has been revived, but on the opposite side enemies are lurking. The Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs await the Heat once they sweep pass the elderly Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. 

This NBA Finals already is forming to be a harder road than last year versus Dallas. That series it was presumed that Miami were the favorites to win. Now, if the Heat makes the Finals, they will be perceived as the underdogs. And that might be a miraculous thing.

The Heat plays their best when their backs are against the wall. Miami tends to play complacent when it feels it has the upper-hand, leaving a prime performance reserved.

It will take Chris Bosh’s return and assertive performances by both Wade and James. The supporting cast will need to do what their role titles claim they are supposed to do -- be the support. The downfall against Dallas erupted due to complacency and passiveness.

If the Heat can improve on both intangibles then surely they will win the title. God knows this team is supremely tangible and athletic. That is not what prevails them. It’s performing when the moments arise at the highest scale, and living up to the expectations that are sought of them. That is all that separates them from championship glory.