Zo's back. This changes everything.

	Mourning brings a dimension to the floor that most centers can't handle.

Suddenly, Philadelphia is not a lock to come out of the East.

If Miami can't get past the Knicks for what appears to be the No. 3 seed (New York holds the tiebreaker), then the most important playoff series in the conference will be played in the second round, the Sixers vs. the Heat (who will be No. 4 or 5).

In the event they meet in the East finals it will a series that will have the stature of anything the West can put together. Who would have thought that as recently as last week?

Expect Mourning to bring the same fire and physical domination to the remaining games of the season and the playoffs that we've come to admire for years. If he could not do that, or if he had doubts you can be sure he would not have scheduled his comeback Tuesday night. It's a guarantee Pat Riley would not have let it happen.

As recently as three days ago, Riley stared into cameras, microphones and notepads and lied through his teeth, said there was no guarantee Mourning would be back. Well...

Only a few days ago, teammate Brian Grant called the tune on this on after going against Mourning repeatedly in practices. "He's going to get physical with me, I'm going to get physical with him," Grant said. "There are no worries about what he's doing. Obviously, it isn't the same as a game, but we're going hard. You have to let him do what he can do. He knows his limits.

"If people thought they knew Zo -- and I didn't until this year -- this really shows what kind of a warrior he is. A lot of people would have just given up. You see him eating fruit on the plane, passing up good things like sweet potato fries that he can't eat anymore. He's really into his health and body."

And Mourning is into winning, so much so that he has unwittingly sabotaged his own efforts with a white hot passion that burned through reason in playoff series with the Knicks.

	Jones

	Mason

	Grant

Now, surrounded by Grant and Anthony Mason, a reasonably healthy Tim Hardaway and Eddie Jones, who should be back in time for the playoffs, Mourning has a team he can take to the East finals and on to what could be a titanic NBA Final, whether it's the Lakers, Blazers or Spurs who come out of the West.

First, there is a little matter of dealing with Philadelphia. The return of Mourning threatens to utterly destroy the gamble Larry Brown took when he traded Theo Ratliff, Toni Kukoc and Nazr Mohammed to the Hawks for Dikembe Mutombo.

The Mourning-Mutombo matchup is not a good one for Philadelphia. For while Mutombo finally learned how to deal with his older friend Patrick Ewing, he is still intimidated by his more powerful and fiery ex-Georgetown teammate Mourning. Go back to Mutombo's first three seasons with the Hawks when he played with Steve Smith, Mookie Blaylock and a strong veteran cast and the Heat won six of eight games, principally due to the inequity at center where Mutombo has been repeatedly knocked off the box by his friend and irresistible rival.

Mourning rebounds evenly with Mutombo on defense, but dominated him on the offensive glass and nearly doubles his point production. Where Mutombo's game is studied and deliberate, Mourning's is a series of quick thrusts. This is a scary prospect for the Sixers, who need 30 points from Iverson and dominating defense, shot-blocking and rebounding from Mutombo in order to win against big-time opponents. The duo showed again Monday night that when they are together and in reasonable health, a pretender like Milwaukee can't compete with them. They are much too good for the Knicks and a double handful for Charlotte.

But Miami? This can be devastating for Philadelphia, which already felt the loss of Kukoc's potent offense when Iverson was out five games with a hip injury. Now, Ratliff is shooting on his own and could be playing for Atlanta in about 10 days. Would these two have been a better fit against a Miami team that has Jones on the court with Zo? Certainly, the Sixers would have been a far more versatile unit.

But that's gone. Brown and team president Pat Croce saw Mutombo as the big poker chip who could win the title for them now, given the presumption of Mourning being unavailable until next season.

Now, it appears they may have lost this colossal gamble. Give Mourning a week or so to feel comfortable on the court, get his game back together. Pat Riley may yet pull this phoenix out of the ashes and come away with his greatest coup.

Jeffrey Denberg, who covers the NBA for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.