As the old clich? goes defense wins championships, and if the clinic that the Heat put on against the lethargic New Orleans Hornets is anything to go by Miami are certainly on the right path.

As Israel Gutierrez of the Miami Herald puts it the Heat 'demoralizing a suddenly aging New Orleans team with consistent defense, aggressive offense and major contributions from all five starters.'

The outcome?  Try a 30 point win and more importantly a 2-0 lead in the best of seven series.

It's the first time the Heat has taken a 2-0 lead in a best-of-7 series. This is the Heat's fourth seven-game series in its 16 years.

''It's a confidence boost knowing how we did it,'' said Eddie Jones.

``The only thing we did spectacular was play great defense. We knew Game 1 that we didn't play the kind of basketball we wanted to play. We didn't move the ball, we had a lot of turnovers and just didn't make good decisions.''