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In a pivotal game six, the Detroit Pistons absolutely annihilated the Miami Heat, 91-66, forcing a winner take all Eastern Conference game seven in Miami. Detroit's domination in game six at the Palace in Auburn Hills gave clear indication as to who is the Miami Heat's Most Valuable Player.

Taking the court without Dwayne Wade, the Heat demonstrated that they are anything but Shaquille O'Neal's team. The Heat were able to dominate prior playoff series even without the Big Diesel in the lineup. But when it came time for Shaq to carry the Heat in game six, O'Neal simply was not up to the demands of the moment.

With Wade on the sideline with bruised ribs, the Heat mustered only 32 first half-points and 66 overall. Playing against one of the NBA's best defensive teams without their best player, the Heat appeared lethargic and offensively inept. The Heat without Wade quite frankly appeared to be analogous to the Chicago Bulls without Michael Jordan.

Earlier in the playoffs, the selection of Steve Nash as the league MVP for the 2004-2005 caused a stir among many, even drawing comments of racism from sportscasters. The white Nash topping the black Shaquille O'Neal was seen by some as a choice of race instead of basketball prowess.

Those claims now seem absurd when considering what happened in game six in Detroit. O'Neal was seen as the final piece of the puzzle for Miami, the center that would make the Heat a championship contender. Shaq does deserve credit, his team is just one win away from the NBA Finals.

But based on game six, the Heat are clearly more reliant on Dwayne Wade than they are on Shaq. Throughout the early aspects of the playoffs and into the Eastern Conference Finals, Wade has demonstrated that he is the better player. And after game six, Wade appears to be the Heat's Most Valuable Player, rendering Shaq to second place on his own team.

Under the scrutiny of the national media, Dwayne Wade has emerged as the best Heat player, definitively better than O'Neal. Though the Heat would seemingly be a substantial underdogs to Detroit without Shaq, they would be even more of an underdog without their emeging NBA star, Dwayne Wade.

Without a doubt, Miami is Dwayne Wade's team.