Entering their first-round playoff series, the Heat and Nets seemed a lot closer than the 17-game difference in the standings indicated. After all, Miami hobbled into the postseason thanks to an ailing Shaquille O’Neal, while the Nets won 15 of their final 19 games to qualify for the final playoff spot. Also, both teams are coached by excellent tacticians – the Nets’ Lawrence Frank and Miami’s Stan Van Gundy – so this series shaped up as one of the most interesting of the first round.

Of course, this line of analysis neglected three important sets of numbers: 100-77, 106-90, and 90-66. Those were the scores by which the Heat manhandled the Nets in their three regular-season meetings this year. In that light, the Heat’s 116-98 blowout in Game 1 and 104-87 victory last night in Game 2 seem a lot more logical.

At a glance, the Nets’ main advantage appeared to be their All-Star-laden backcourt, which has given the team a reputation for high-flying offense. In reality, though, the Nets win games with defense; they ranked eighth in the league in regular-season Defensive Efficiency with 100.3 points allowed per 100 possessions, and ninth in opponent field-goal percentage at 43.9%. If Frank could find a way to contain O’Neal, the reasoning went, the Nets would have a good chance of winning.

All that was tossed out of the window, though, as the Heat crushed New Jersey’s strong suits the first two games. In Game 1, the Heat ran up 116 points, shooting a blistering 59.2% from the field and an even better 60% from three-point range. They cooled down in Game 2, but still shot an excellent 48% from the field and a 38.5% from behind the arc.

The Nets’ core strategy was to double-team O’Neal and force his supporting cast to win the game by making difficult shots. They succeeded on the first count: O’Neal, playing his first games in two weeks due to a deep thigh bruise, scored only 17 in 32 minutes in Game 1 and 14 in 27 in Game 2. But the Heat supporting cast exploded with a vengeance.

Last night, Frank tweaked his defensive game plan by doubling Shaq with Brian Scalabrine as often as possible and assigning Vince Carter to stay near Damon Jones, who scored 30 points in the opener. Shaq responded by looking to create passing lanes to his teammates. In one key possession in the first half, he dribbled farther from the basket, drawing the Net defenders away from the paint. This created a large gap for Udonis Haslem, who took the pass from O’Neal and drove for an easy hoop.

When Scalabrine got into early foul trouble, Frank was forced to tweak his strategy once again, going with a small three-guard alignment. This enabled the Nets to spread the floor offensively, but left them disadvantaged on the boards. Miami out-rebounded the Nets 47-38 in the game, with the biggest beneficiary being Alonzo Mourning. The former Net scored 21 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and played the role of the Heat’s emotional leader with O’Neal on the bench.

With the advantage on the glass in his pocket, Van Gundy amplified the pressure on the Nets by changing the defensive alignment against Carter. Early on, the Heat double-teamed Carter to keep him from getting untracked. Then Mourning and reserve guard Keyon Dooling successfully distracted Carter by playing exceedingly physical defense in the second quarter. Vince finished with 21 points on a miserable 6-of-16 from the field.

Having ceded the boards and with their best player rattled, the Nets found themselves dependent on rookie big man Nenad Krstic. The Serbian forward delivered, scoring 27 points and accounting for half of the Nets’ 12 first-half baskets (the rest of the team shot a combined 6-of-23). Midway through the third quarter, Krstic picked up his third and fourth fouls in rapid succession and the air seemed to go out of the Nets for the rest of the night.

The twin thumpings give Frank a lot to work on, but it’s worth noting that he excels in these situations. During last season’s Eastern Conference Semifinal matchup with Detroit, for example, the Nets were strangled by the Pistons’ smothering defense in the first two games, both of them blowouts in Detroit’s favor. To jumpstart the offense, Frank moved Kenyon Martin, his best big man, away from the low post, which in turn drew Ben and Rasheed Wallace away from the basket and opened driving lanes for the slashing Jefferson. The plan worked, and the Nets won three straight before being knocked off by the eventual NBA champions.

In many ways, Frank faces a tougher task this time around. Given the five games these teams have played this season, it’s fair to say that the Nets simply don’t match up well against the Heat. But Frank’s moves from Game 1 to Game 2 improved his team’s chances somewhat, and Nets fans can at least take solace in the fact that things looked equally bleak last spring against the Pistons.