The way the playoffs have gone for Jamal Mashburn in his four-year tenure in South Florida, you couldn't blame the Heat if they prepared as if Mash was to be out as well.

The knock on Mashburn has been his inconsistency. One game he'd loom as large as a pair of George Forman's boxing trunks. The next he'd shrivel like a dried prune.

In the most menial of games, Mash displayed the potential that has kept coach Pat Riley from pulling the trigger on numerous trade opportunities for the enigmatic power forward. But when it mattered most, in the playoffs, Mash pulled frequent Houdinis. Mashburn has a career average of 18 points during the regular season. Come playoff time, that average shrinks to 9.6 points per game.

So, enter the Heat, with the ghost of playoffs past still haunting them and Hardaway in a designer suit instead of a Miami uniform. When they needed him most, Mashburn finally displayed the same potential that had been his biggest plague.

Mash scored a career-high 29 points in Miami's 95-85 victory over the Piston's to give the Heat a 1-0 lead in this best-of-5 series.

"I think all the rhetoric about Jamal, forget about all that stuff," Riley said. "Forget about the past. I think the fact that all that stuff you (the critics) were awaiting, you saw a glimpse of it. I think we all see the greatness in him. And there comes a time when a guy plants his feet and steps up. He stepped up today."

Mashburn stepped up to fill Hardaway's void and he stepped up to fill a personal one of his own. He displayed the complete game against Detroit -- adding five assists and four rebounds in a career playoff high 42 minutes.

"I just tried to play at a high level," Mashburn said. "I tried to help the teammates as much as I could. Without Tim in there, we all had to step up. I'm going to have to do a lot in this series, so there may be nights when I don't score 29, but hopefully I'll get 10 assists and we'll keep winning. I tried to do my part on both ends as much as I could."

Mashburn's "part" was anything but a supporting role -- as had been the custom in the postseason. For once, he was protagonist, on center stage. He produced points when the Pistons smothered and swarmed around center Alonzo Mourning, limiting 'Zo to few open looks at the basket. Mash defended a gimpy, but still-dangerous Grant Hill, who finished with 13 points. And he ran the Heat's offense when rookie point guard Anthony Carter was saddled with early foul trouble.

Jamal Mashburn and the Heat hold Lindsay Hunter and the Pistons well under their scoring average. Mashburn also adds 29 points.(AP)

"I tried to handle the ball and pep people up," Mashburn said. "That's what a point guard is supposed to do. I had to still play my game and get people involved, but it was a fine line I had to cross.

"'What have I been doing all year?' That's the way I tried to look at it. I came out and tried to do everything I did during the regular season. It's not any different from what I did today, basically. I tried to up my game some and do the things that we needed done to be successful."

At the start, Mashburn stamped his print on this game. He scored 11 first-quarter points. Mash displayed an aggression not seen in his game in quite some time. He constantly posted up Hill and was fearless going to the basket. He got to the free-throw line eight times in the first quarter alone and made seven of his attempts.

"Since Day 1, when we brought him here in the trade, we knew what he was capable of," said Mourning, who set a franchise record of nine blocks to go along with his 16 points. "His performance doesn't surprise me at all. We're going to keep going to him."

It's taken Mash four years to finally become a go-to guy in the playoffs. With the Heat's psyche still damaged by two consecutive postseason flops, winning Game 1 at home was as important as a Game 5 in this opening round. And when the pressure was on, it was Mashburn, the playoff villain for three years who finally played the role of hero.

"He did so many things for us today, he's got to guard Grant Hill, score," Riley said. "He's got to handle the ball. I just thought he played a great game and was very composed throughout the game."

Said Mashburn: "I know the type of player I'm supposed to be."

For Riley and Co., it couldn't have come at a better time for Mash to finally show it.