The NBA’s (totally awesome) second season is finally upon us. Now that the 16 postseason teams are officially set, we have a chance to further examine the craziness that sure to lie ahead. In our playoff preview series, we will take a look at some of the more intriguing questions surrounding these first round matchups.

Miami Heat (3) vs Charlotte Hornets (6)

1. Will the “Dwyane Wade effect” rear it’s head in this series?

It’s not exactly a well kept secret, but it seems like Wade’s negative effect on Miami doesn’t get nearly as much attention is it should. Over the course of the regular season, the Heat have been substantially better -- nearly four full points per 48 minutes, per NBA.com -- when Wade sits. Those numbers typically have to be taken into context (remember the whole Hassan Whiteside not helping the team’s defense thing early in the year?), but it’s not hard to find reasons to suggest this is a real thing that could haunt Miami this series.

Subjectively, it’s easy to see where Wade’s aging game, despite what appears to be decent production on the surface, stands in contrast to a Miami team that’s at it’s best playing an attacking style of basketball around Goran Dragic-Whiteside pick-and-rolls. The other quantitative factors that go into “noisy” on/off splits don’t really apply to Wade either.

Some star players see their splits take a hit because they come back into the game to prop up weak bench units. But with the Heat, it’s Goran Dragic that anchors the bench mob, not Wade, who spends most of his time with the starters. And though Amar’e Stoudemire has been the nominal starter for a good chunk of the season (and up until the past few games), while the havoc-wreaking Whiteside has come off the bench, Wade has actually played better in his 542 minutes with Stoudamire (+1.4 per 48) than his 1327 minutes with Whiteside (incredibly, -0.3 per 48).

That’s not saying Wade has gone full-on Kobe Bryant (*ducks to avoid flying projectiles thrown by Laker fans*). Wade’s post game is still a threat and will certainly be put into play this series against Courtney Lee and any dual point guard lineups Hornets head coach Steve Clifford tries to throw out. Wade has also become a better playmaker out of pick-and-roll, something backed up by Synergy numbers.

Yet with all that said, this series and really their playoff run in general could turn out to be a matter of Miami surviving Wade’s time on the court, which will be be considerable as the star guard averaged 30.5 minutes per game during the regular season. Should the Heat be unable to do so and Wade’s contrasting style (and defensive lapses) be a primary reason why, it will be interesting to see how it’s perceived both within the Miami organization and around the league.

2. Mano a Mano: Who will come out on top in the Hassan Whiteside-Al Jefferson matchup?

This might be the most enjoyable matchup of any on the first round. On one hand, you have the young, athletically gifted shot-swatting force. On the other, the crafty veteran who is already limited movement has been slowed by a string of injuries in recent years. And make no mistake about it, unlike other “matchups” which are really more team-orientated, this will truly be a one-on-one duel going by what happened when these two clubs met in mid-March.

During that game, Clifford used Jefferson to go right at Miami’s menacing shot-blocker. At one point, Jefferson scored on four straight possessions when he got the ball in the post, including a very Jefferson-ian “and 1.”

The savvy Charlotte vet finished with a sterling effort that night; a 10-of-16 performance for 21 points. Needless to say, if that is a precursor to what is to come in this series, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra will be faced with some interesting tactical decisions. If Whiteside’s inability to contain Jefferson forces Spoelstra to send double teams, it could expose the Heat to the Hornets improved long-range shooting. Other options like staggering Whiteside’s minutes so perhaps Amar’e Stoudamire (gulp) shares more court time with Jefferson or going even more extreme and swapping matchups -- putting Luol Deng or another wing on Jefferson with instructions to front all post ups -- in order to hide Whiteside on someone else aren’t very good either.

The flip side, however, is that Jefferson has to keep up with Whiteside diving to the basket in pick-and-rolls on the other side of the floor -- something that has always been a struggle for Jefferson. If that happens, Clifford could be the one making some offense/defense choices with his rotation. Or maybe best of all, this matchup just winds up being a zero-sum game that leads to lots of points and some seriously fun basketball.  

3. Is Josh Richardson ready for playoff basketball?

The 6’6” rookie wing is technically Miami’s 57th (okay, fine, 4th) stab at finding a backup point guard this season. All the others -- Mario Chalmers, Beno Udrih and Tyler Johnson -- have either been traded, waived, hurt or a combination of the two. So far, Richardson has responded nicely -- posting shooting percentages of 45.2 percent from the field and 46.1 percent from 3 on 2.2 attempts per game. He’s become a core member of a Spoelstra’s tight 8-man rotation that’s been forced onto the Heat by necessity due to injuries and poor play by veterans like Josh McRoberts and Gerald Green.

But coasting along in a reserve role in the regular season and being thrust into a playoff atmosphere where every minute is crucial are two totally different things. And make no mistake about it, given Johnson’s injury and Green’s struggles, Richardson needs to maintain his productivity in order to avoid creating a dead spot in Miami’s tight rotation. If the rookie falters in his first showing under the bright lights of the playoffs, it could be problematic for the Heat.