Detroit at Miami, 8 p.m. ET

When Miami stepped off the floor a loser in Game 5, top priority was to distance itself from the dreaded P-word: pressure.

Dwyane Wade was so adamant about the issue that he sounded like Jim Mora Sr. being asked about the playoffs.

"Pressure?!"

Wade, who has been so accurate during the series that an 11-for-20 shooting night is considered struggling, instead views Game 6 vs. Detroit as a "golden opportunity." Heat coach Pat Riley uttered something about a second bite at an apple they have three bites to eat, and Shaquille O'Neal simply warned that his team has learned from its mistakes.

Here is a news flash for the Heat. Win Friday, or don't win at all. How's that for pressure?

Miami's opportunity to reach an NBA Finals was destroyed twice last season, and if it's involved in a close game Friday night, all those memories will come flooding back regardless of how many new members are on the team. The Heat are still fueled by Shaq and Wade, who both had to deal with severe disappointment last season, albeit in part because of injuries.

Let's flashback to Game 7 of the '05 East finals. A hampered Wade took a shot to alleviate his ailing ribs at halftime and took another kind of shot, albeit it ill-advised, in the final minute. As for O'Neal, his inability to get the ball where he wanted when he wanted down the stretch ultimately led to the ineffectiveness and hence, revamping of the supporting cast.

Those are facts. Check them out in the history books and remember history tends to repeat itself. Then suck down a tablespoon of reality and understand how difficult a Game 7 in Auburn Hills would be to win.

What are you smiling about, Detroit? The pressure is on you, too. The way the two-time defending conference champs opened this series was disgraceful.

Aren't you the best team in the league? Are you really supposed to find yourselves in this situation time after time?

Congratulations, you've entered a situation where the price for failure is extinction, and the obstacle just happens to be the toughest you've faced since last season's Finals. You lost that one, in case you forgot.

"I think they understand what's at hand," a maligned Flip Saunders said of his team. "You can't be afraid to lose and you can't be afraid to fail. If you're going to be afraid to fail, then you usually play timid and this team has not really done that in these types of situations."