Can the Heat Win Without D-Wade?

The Eastern Conference playoffs have been extremely exciting as opposed to the Western Conference playoffs, which has had about as much excitement as watching the MLS Playoffs.

There's another great Eastern Conference playoffs matchup tonight as the Hawks host the Heat for Game 5 of their series. The series is knotted at two games apiece and with both teams losing a game on their home floor.

However, the Heat may have been in position to wrap up the series tonight if Dwayne Wade could have avoided getting injured. Wade was obviously in a lot of pain in Game 4 and was nowhere near 100 percent. After all, the NBA superstar did throw up four air-balls, so there had to be something wrong with him.

Some analysts are even speculating that Wade will even sit out tonight's game. Here's a look at the production of the Heat's starting lineup after four games of this series:

1. Dwayne Wade- 25.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 6.8 apg
2. Mario Chalmers- 7.8 ppg, 3.8 apg
3. James Jones- 11 ppg, 1.5 rpg
4. Udonis Haslem- 8 ppg, 8.5 rpg
5. Jermain O'neal- 16.5 ppg, 6 rpg

Important Bench Players:

1. Michael Beasley- 7 ppg, 6 rpg
2. Daequan Cook- 7 ppg, 2.8 rpg

Whether Wade sits out or not tonight, other players are going to have to pick up the extra load because Wade will definitely not be at his best. I can see Wade maybe scoring 15 points and grabbing a couple rebounds but that's it.

If Jermaine O'neal controls the paint and Chalmers manages the game effectively, then the Heat have a chance.

Another huge x-factor in this situation is Michael Beasley. If Beasley can get back to the way he played in the first two games of the series, the Heat have a good chance at pulling out a win in Atlanta tonight.