We learned a few things today.

Among them, the Heat are officially the No. 2 seed because, apparently, Doc Rivers gave in and didn't want to win Monday night in Washington. He didn't play his big four.

That means we've learned the Heat's first-round opponent, as well. It's the Sixers, because Philly's loss locks the Knicks into No. 6 and the Sixers into No. 7.

We've also learned that a well-run zone will still give the Heat problems, as it did late in the game against the Hawks. It took big three-pointers from James Jones to turn a tight game into a Heat win.

We also learned, officially, that Zydrunas Ilgauskas is a gangster. He has already smashed John Wall in  the mouth (right). And Monday he threw a dart at the small of Zaza Pachulia's back after the most inadvertent of elbows.

But back to the playoff series against the Sixers.

It lacks the star power and the drama of a Heat-Knicks matchup. And when it comes to offensive execution, it would've been easier to carve up the Knicks and their "defense" than it is to play against a Doug Collins defense.

But if you look at it in terms of potential sweeps, it's probably more likely the Heat could sweep Philly rather than New York, a team that can have either one of its superstars take over a game.

Assuming Louis Williams returns healthy from his hamstring injury, he and Thaddeus Young might be the toughest matchups for the Heat, especially when you consider they both come off the bench and the Heat's bench doesn't match up well with quickness and athleticism, except for maybe Joel Anthony. Jodie Meeks could present a problem as well. In the two games he played against Miami this season, he scored a total of 35 points on 13 of 26 shooting, including eight three-pointers.

The best part about facing the Sixers is that the frontcourt duo of Elton Brand and Spencer Hawes aren't exactly difficult to deal with up front. It allows Big Z to stay on the floor as long as Hawes is out there, which means the Heat offense should be effective early in games.

The Heat averaged 102 points and shot 47 percent against the Sixers in three wins this season, both stats right around the season averages.

Not the sexiest of matchups, but it might be the easier of the possible first-round opponents.

Not exactly sure where to start on this one, but why not Chris Bosh, because that's where most people will go with their complaints.

He has to be better than that in a game without Dwyane Wade. It's as if someone needs to replay that  speech he gave a few weeks back just to remind him what he was upset about in the first place. Shooting 6 of 15 isn't good enough, getting to the foul line just eight times -- especially when Wade is out and LeBron James isn't getting to the foul line double-figure times either -- isn't good enough. And as much as it can be dismissed as a somewhat unimportant game, it was pretty important. Now the Heat needs to rely on the Celtics losing a game and still winning the rest of its game, including one against the Celtics.

But it wasn't all on Bosh. Mike Bibby had an unusual game, which must've been a result of Wade being out and him needing to do more ball-handling/creating. Those six turnovers were way more than he should ever have. Heck, it's about half as many as the total he had since getting here.

Then there was 1 of 9 from Mario Chalmers, and not enough from James Jones considering he played 33 minutes, which usually translates into pretty good numbers for him. LeBron needed to be more aggressive getting to the rim, especially after he spent the opening portion of the game softening up the defense by being a distributor. And as much as Mike Miller's rebounding is a good thing to have from the small forward position, should he really be leading this team in rebounding? That's got to come from Bosh or someone else up front.

On top of that, there's word less than 12 hours after the loss that LeBron's mother was arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge in Miami Beach. That just can't be good for his state of mind heading into the postseason. And it's another PR mess he and the team has to face at a bad time.

Overall, a pretty awful 24 hours for the Heat

 

Seemed like everybody was coming back to action on Sunday. Mike Miller was back in action, which was promising because there seemed to be some concern surrounding his knee injury. Mario Chalmers came back a little earlier than expected from his sprained knee. And even in Boston, Shaquille O'Neal came back, at least temporarily, for the Celtics.

Against the Nets, Chalmers played significant minutes, and Eddie House went back to playing none. Guessing that's going to be Erik Spoelstra's full-time plan for Mario, leaving Mike Bibby as the starter, which makes sense given that he's shooting almost 50 percent from three and committing less than a turnover a game since coming to Miami.

As for Shaq, he went out after a few minutes against the Pistons in Boston, and it didn't look good. He was running, stumbled, then looked back to see if he tripped over something. There was nothing there. He then limped off the court, into the tunnel, where he collapsed onto the team trainer. It looked like an Achilles injury, but the Celtics broadcast called it a strained calf. It looked way more serious than that. Even if it is a "strain," the chances of him coming back in good shape for the playoffs appear slim. And that would leave Jermaine O'Neal as the only healthy center they have (btw, the Heat hasn't gotten the best of the Tory Murphy-Mike Bibby decisions so far). Jermaine looks out of shape, and that team won't be the same without something better in the middle. It'll be a Glen Davis-Kevin Garnett-heavy frontcourt should those circumstances stay the same. More offense, but less defense.

As for the Heat, it's encouraging to see the team really attacking the basket, especially LeBron James, who isn't settling for jumpers much of late. He certainly wasn't against the Nets. And it appears James Jones has found his stroke again, which can make for a deadly combo when he and Bibby are on the floor together.

It might be, for a few reasons.

First, you'd think by now, and when the team should be getting into playoff form, that there wouldn't be anymore complacency, regardless of the opponent.

The Cavs are athletic up front, which has always given Heat problems, and have two point guards who can score in Ramon Sessions and Baron Davis (officially on the "Heat Killers" list), and we know how those have given the Heat problems all year.

Yet, the Heat has solved those issues with effort and defense at times this year. This time, though, that wasn't there -- at least not when the team was falling behind.

You'd think that another trip to Cleveland would keep this team into the game. You'd think LeBron James and Co. would want to dominate this team every chance it got. But they let up, which is disappointing.

Another disappointing aspect was the play of Chris Bosh, who hasn't had a stinker like this in a while. He looked like he was wearing butter gloves most of the night, and when he was making a move to the basket, was predictable and gave those athletic Cavs big men either bother or flat-out block every shot. And those free throws with the Heat down nine late in the game? Yikes.

But you almost want to give Chris a pass given how well he's been playing of late. It just makes you wonder if he'll respond this way during road playoff games.

This probably ranks right up there with the home Indiana loss and the home loss to Orlando that featured a 24-point collapse.

But all that said, it really doesn't mean much other than the Heat can no longer reach 60 wins for the season.

The No. 2 spot is still right in the Heat's reach, especially considering the Heat plays Boston on April 10, and if the Heat comes out of this road trip 3-1, there's a good chance it'll come back home at least tied with Boston, given the C's schedule.

Two quick side notes on the game: Mike Miller would've been fairly important in this game, because his rebounding would've helped. And what in the world got into James Jones? He hasn't played this many games in a season since 06-07, so maybe it's fatigue? Because 0-for-5 from three, and some pretty awful misses, just doesn't look like him.

And just a note on that three-pointer that was first ruled no good, then good by the officials at the end of the third quarter. Normally, in those situations where the clock clearly started before a player touched the ball, they would literally run the play again, rather than count anything that happened after. But these officials literally pulled out a stopwatch while watching the video replay, checking to see if LeBron's heave would've gotten off in the 1.9 seconds left on the clock. Now, that would seem to be the right thing to do, call it a "clock malfunction," and let a very meaningful play count rather than try to make LeBron make that shot again. But it also feels like these officials panicked because it was obvious neither of them was watching the clock like they were supposed to.

Not surprised that the NBA said the shot shouldn't have counted. But if the clock operator had just done his job correctly, it would've counted, so in a sense it was the right thing to do. These officials (Ed Malloy was the lead official, and his charge call looks like a "count it," motion, which was extremely confusing) are lucky that it didn't come down to a one-possession game.

(Update: Technically, it could've been the clock operator or any of the three referees that started the clock early on that 3rd quarter play. Each of the refs have the ability to start the clock. So it's not necessarily the fault of that hometown clock operator.)

It's amazing how bad a basketball venue Philips Arena. The big screen is small and poor quality. The crowd is just sitting there waiting to be entertained like they're at a bad comedy show.

Fortunately for the fans in the ATL, LeBron James brought his best act.

He went for 43, lighting up Philips from the perimeter.

Probably most interesting part of it was after the game, when LeBron said he does his best work on the road and loves it. He said just look at the facts. And it's true this year, that's for sure.

Most of his big scoring games have come on the road this year.

38 at Cleveland

36 at Phoenix (with no Dwyane Wade)

38 at Charlotte

44 at Portland

51 at Orlando

43 at Atlanta

That's certainly a good thing, because the Heat might very well start on the road in Rounds 2 and beyond in the playoffs. Even though the Celtics and Bulls both lost Friday, the Heat is still three games back of both in the loss column, and doesn't hold the tiebreaker against either team. Doesn't seem like Miami can make up that deficit with 13 games left.

Back in 2006, the Heat was the No. 2 seed and didn't have homecourt in the conference finals or the Finals, but won those series anyway. As LeBron put it, nobody goes through the playoffs just winning all their home games, so they'll have to win a game or two on the road anyway.

But back to Friday's game. It looked like Erik Spoelstra put James Jones back in the rotation. It might just have been for this game, given that the Heat was starting a back-to-back, but it still appears feasible that Jones will play in smaller lineups against teams without a ton of size.

Chris Bosh remained aggressive and active on the boards. He finished with an overshadowed 17 and 10, as the Heat outrebounded the Hawks by 23, the largest margin of the year.

So, in five games since he asked for more chances, he's averaging 22 points, 10.4 rebounds and is shooting 55.1 percent and shooting 8.4 foul shots a game. That's a quality response.

 

Just watched the Blazers game over, and I'll spare you the 2,800-word breakdown, but a few things happened to stand out.

I'm gonna go body language school a little bit here, but what I saw live remained obvious while watching it over. The Heat looked drained for a lot of the first half. LeBron James, in particular, didn't appear his normal self in the opening quarters, and it's possible that this team slump has gotten to him personally. I mean, he has never had to admit to failing anything, and then he comes out after the Bulls loss and apologizes to his teammates for failing them late in games. That has to put him in a strange place.

And in the overall, this team slump has created an added and unnecessary pressure on every single long-distance shot these guys take. It's as if Mike Miller and Mike Bibby and Mario Chalmers are taking game winners every time they put the ball up. This team looks a lot like the team that started the season 9-8. Way too much pressure to succeed at the moment.

As for Chris Bosh, he clearly wasn't getting the ball low in the post, but he never gets the ball down there. The only time I can remember in recent memory was one of his first touches against the Bulls, when he pinned Joakim Noah down there and scored quickly. The problem is, he's smaller and skinnier than LaMarcus Aldridge, so he either has to work relentlessly to get post position, or he'll simply get pushed out of there.

Other times, though, it's an issue of execution. One example, the Heat ran a play where they got a switch and Brandon Roy was on Bosh's back. Well, the Heat tried to get him the ball, but the spacing wasn't right and the play collapsed. Never got to Bosh.

Matter of fact, that's a regular problem with this team. The plays are designed pretty well, but the execution is missing. Part of the issue is not having a proper point guard.

Bosh might not want to shoot jumpers all the time, but he'll likely have to get his by driving the ball as opposed to getting it in the low post. Either that, or he's just going to have to fight for his space.

Lastly, there's the Erik Spoelstra question. Here's the deal. This team is better than it has shown. The role players are better than they have shown. Miller might be bothered by that thumb, but he's still better than what he has shown. And for whatever reason, Spoelstra isn't getting that out of them. Is it their roles limiting them? Is it their minutes? Is it Wade and LeBron not involving them enough? Is it the plays being called? Either way, they need to perform up to their standards. And I think part of that is they just aren't being themselves.

Now, Spoelstra probably needs to reconsider his use of James Jones. He played him less than two minutes Tuesday, and even Wade said in the postgame that Jones is still a very capable player. When he was getting regular minutes, he was drawing charges regularly, something no one else has been doing, and he was knocking down at least two three whenever he played 15 or so minutes.

That's a coaching decision that hasn't worked out that well for Spoelstra, as is the use of Erick Dampier as the starter. At least when Zydrunas Ilgauskas was starting, the Heat could counter his defensive issues by having an offensive threat on the floor. Right now, Dampier isn't offering enough defensively to counter the fact that he's an offensive liability. And for that matter, Ilgauskas was a terrific offensive rebounder near the rim, and Dampier's tip-outs aren't nearly as effective as Z's tip-ins. If Spo switches back to Z or uses Jones more minutes, it won't be an admission of failure. It would just be him doing the right thing. Whether that happens or not, I guess we'll see.

OK, so I purposely waited until the day after to analyze this Heat collapse. The reason being, I spent the entire second half with my head buried in the computer trying to finish a column that needed to be completed before the game was over (I apologize to anyone who read that print version, by the way).

So while I was still looking up at the game on occasion, it was hard to actually detail what was going so wrong.

The good news is, it allowed me to sit at home and dissect the second half on DVR. It was telling. Very telling. And it will be no fun at all pointing fingers at Dwyane Wade, Erik Spoelstra and LeBron James. But it’s inevitable.

(Also, fair warning. This isn’t really a blog entry. It’s a long, long, Bill-Simmons-column long entry, but not nearly as funny. So either take time to read it, or read it in spurts.)

Starting the third quarter with an 18-point lead, you can already tell the Heat is in cruise mode. Because rather than start the half with exactly what worked in the first half, the guys switch it up and run action for Chris Bosh. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Bosh actually got four points in three possessions out of it. It’s just an obvious change in approach. When you’ve already lost big leads at home this year, you’d like to see Wade and James stretch the lead to 30 by being ultra-aggressive just like they were to start the game. But, no, the signs start early…

Possible worst-case-scenario, the Heat goes up 24 in the opening minutes of the half. Cruise mode suddenly went into idle mode.

It was most visible on the defensive end. Wade in particular helped turn this big lead into a small lead real quickly.

After going up 24, he gets caught up in a screen, eventually his man, Jason Richardson, hits a wide-open three-pointer.

Next Heat possession, Wade misses a couple free throws – a disturbing trend because his bad FT-shooting games always seem to come back and cost the Heat.

A Heat possession later, Bosh gets ball in the post, no movement other than a late cut by Mario Chalmers. Wade and LeBron just standing and watching from the edges. Bosh misses tough turnaround.

Next possession, again, just standing and watching from LeBron and Wade, leaving Bosh for a long jumper that doesn’t go. Still up 21.

Next possession, yet again, LeBron at top of the circle without the ball and not moving, Dwyane in the corner and not moving, ends up in long Chalmers jumper with 16 seconds left on the shot clock.

 At this point, you’re starting to notice a couple of things. First, Chalmers is practically begging to be benched. The one thing he did decently well before starting was hitting threes. He’s missing badly these days.

Second, and possibly most important, is that whole crutch theory that “everybody makes a run in the NBA” is just that, a crutch.

There’s a reason teams make runs. Because you’re allowing them to.

The Magic’s run was extreme, and it was because the Heat was playing extremely lazy. Here you thought LeBron  was “re-FOCUSED,” according to his Wednesday tweet. Apparently that only lasts one half.

 After LeBron hit Bosh in the head with a bullet pass (as if he wasn’t struggling enough to see the basket straight), the Heat’s next possession was a one-dribble fadeaway for Wade from the left corner with 16 seconds left on the shot clock. Bad shot. Bad result, made worse after Wade’s man, J-Rich, gets a fastbreak bucket as a result.

All the while, the Heat still has a comfortable lead, so it’s apparently not registering that these possessions are costly and horrible.

A few possessions later, more proof that the mentality has changed from the first half. On a pick-and-roll play between Wade and Bosh, the Magic switch, leaving Wade with the ball against Brandon Bass. Rather than try to take him (TAKE HIM!!!), Wade tries to pass to Bosh, who has a smaller man on him, but he’s posting up at TOP OF THE THREE-POINT CIRCLE! Why try to force a pass there rather than be aggressive and go yourself, Dwyane? The pass was bad, and it resulted in a turnover.

And it didn’t stop there for Wade. Very next Magic possession, he lingers in the lane as Dwight Howard is driving to the rim on the opposite side of the baseline. Bosh was already there to double Howard at the rim. Wade was doing nothing to bother or deter Howard. It just looked like he was going to actually help, when all he did was leave J-Rich open for an uncontested three. Lead down to 75-61.

The lead stayed at 14 for a spell, but the end of the third quarter is where the Magic made another push.

The Heat blitz a pick-and-roll hard, J-Rich is open for a three. 80-69.

Mike Bibby airball (he can’t be blamed for any of this, because it’s unfair he even has to play), Jameer Nelson free throws, and suddenly it’s a nine-point game.

At the quarter buzzer, James Jones missed a three-pointer. Can’t really expect that make, of course, but it gives us an excuse to look at his recent shooting numbers in contests that don’t involve a rack of basketballs.

Since the beginning of February, Jones, who does have a hip issue, has shot 8 of 28 from three. That’s 28.6 percent. That’s not good. But he also hasn’t had but two games where he played more than 15 minutes. Seven of those 13 games he has played eight minutes or less. Not a great opportunity to get into a rhythm. In every game that he has hit three three-pointers or more, he’s played at least 16 minutes, and most of them he’s played at least 20. Cutting those minutes in half doesn’t leave Jones much time to contribute. You almost have to commit to playing him double-figure minutes or don’t play him at all.

Fourth quarter, more one-or-no pass offense for Heat. Bibby to Bosh for a one-dribble pull-up, miss. Wade another pair of missed free throws, Wade another tough fadeaway from the corner, this one over an outstretched Howard, another miss. Wade 0 of 3 for the half at this point. That rebound leads to an open three for J-Rich, who would’ve been Wade’s man if he didn’t have to start from the baseline when recovering on defense.

Finally, on the next Heat possession they get back to multiple pick-and-rolls. But on the second one, Mike Miller misses Bosh when he’s open, and instead hits him after the defense recovers. The resulted is a contested two for Bosh that misses.

Then more laziness. Wade gets a steal, hits Miller for an open three that misses, but Wade doesn’t recover defensively, J-Rich hits another three. It’s not 82-79 Miami, and there doesn’t seem to be any plan on the Heat’s part to turn things around.

To this point in the collapse, it seems Wade can take most of the blame. Bad offense, bad defense, just plain bad. But Spo can’t be left out of the blame game. He has had plenty of opportunity to watch what’s happening and change it. There were too many “plays” where the Largest Two were either standing and watching or not being aggressive. It’s OK for a coach to tell his guys to be aggressive. It’s OK to demand that they “drive the ball.” You hear it all the time from coaches. Didn’t see or hear much of that from Spo on Thursday.

Just after a timeout, LeBron missed a wide-open three. Granted, it was open, but LeBron also had a lane to drive into, and had he done it, he very likely would’ve found an open Bosh underneath the basket because the Magic bigs were contemplating whether to run out on James and had lost contact with Bosh.

A quick, hibachi-like three from Gilbert Arenas, and suddenly this bad boy is tied at 82-82.

But nothing changes on the Heat’s offensive end. Wade waits in the corner because catching a pass, faking, then missing an out-of-rhythm baseline jumper.

As a result, J-Rich leaks out, forces Bibby to cover him. He backs down Bibby and then finds an open Ryan Anderson for a layup. Magic lead. Game officially a disaster right now. Even if Heat comes back to eek out a win.

More awfulness. Bibby misses a three on another possession where LeBron neven stepped inside the three-point circle.

Then Bibby doubles Howard, Wade is so late rotating to Arenas that you’d think he was just hit in the head with a LeBron James bullet pass. Magic up five.

Two more plays that make you want to never see Chalmers on the floor of a non-blowout ever again.

He commits a ridiculous offensive foul on an attempted screen. It was clearly a foul. One that Chalmers thought he might get away with, but it was entirely unnecessary.

Very next play, he can’t come close to sticking to Nelson on a screen-roll, Nelson splits Chalmers and Bosh for a runner.

That’s an 18-0 run. That’s the type of run that you’d never think the Heat would be on the wrong side of. Not when you have free-throw machines like Wade and LeBron. But unfortunately, teams don’t tend to foul guys who stand around the three-point line most of the time.

The Heat try to turn on the switch, but the Magic is already humming, mostly on defense. Wade gets doubled in the post. Turnover. Heat moving the ball to find an open shot, Erick Dampier parks in the lane for a three-second violation. Chalmers decides he wants a whole possession to himself, never passes the ball, drives to the lane and tries to get a foul call on Howard, who slaps the shot out of bounds. LeBron and Dwyane? Yeah, they’re parked outside the three-point line the whole time.

Bosh finally hits a driving layup, but one possession later, Chalmers continues his horrendousisosity (new word) but bricking another open three.

You have to ask yourself at this point why he’s in there. His mistakes are plentiful offensively, his defense is non-existent. That’s a Spo choice that’s questionable.

The Magic manage to maintain a seven-point lead, 93-86, and Wade’s answer is to launch a three-pointer from the top with 14 seconds on the shot clock. He hasn’t made a field goal or a free throw in the period at this point. Horrible shot. Again, LeBron parked in the corner the whole possession.

Another missed Chalmers three, but Heat get fortunate rebound and Wade finds Dampier for an and-one bucket.

Nothing against Dampier, but he was the best player in the Heat’s fourth quarter. Once again, Erick Dampier was the Heat’s best player in the fourth quarter of a big game. Disturbing sentence.

Finally, Chalmers is on the bench, but Nelson gets past Wade just as easy, collapses the defense and this time it’s Quentin Richardson who nails the open three. 96-89.

Heat’s answer? Bosh drives into double team searching for foul. No call. No call deserved. Wade never steps inside three-point line.

Finally, a big shot. Miller with a three, 96-92.

But it’s followed by, arguably, the biggest play of the game.

Now, in a game of huge plays and equally horrible possessions, it’s hard to pinpoint one as critical. But this one was.

Miller grabbed a steal and throws just a horrible pass over Wade and toward Q-Rich in the open court.

As much as this game wasn’t Miller’s fault, by any stretch, that was the biggest failure down the stretch. That would’ve been at least two points for Wade, who had a retreating Richardson between him and the basket. It would’ve made it a two or one point game with 1:30 left.

Thanks to Dampier – again – who hits a couple free throws, the Heat’s within two and on defense. If Miller’s turnover was the most crucial play down the stretch, this was easily the most insane.

For starters, it’s frustrating to watch when the Heat just spent the previous 20 minutes or so playing like lazy dogs. Had they played with anything close to this kind of effort in the second half, it never would’ve gotten to this point.

Q-Rich misses the dagger three. Howard muscles Dampier and positions himself perfectly in front of the basket. He didn’t get the rebound, but he reached back and got a hand on it, forcing Wade to tip the ball almost out of bounds. Wade dives over the bench to save it in, but it gets to Howard, who finds Anderson on the baseline. LeBron comes in for a clean swat. But because Bosh bumped into the massive Howard, Bosh was face down on the floor rather than chasing down that loose ball, so Howard gets it first.

This is a perfect example of why Howard’s ridiculous physique is good for way more than magazine covers and ESPN The Body issues. He made two gigantic, game-saving plays just by being a beast.

LeBron then gets called for a foul on Nelson, but it might have been an anticipation call by the refs, who figured he’d be fouling in that spot with the Heat down and barely a differential between shot and game clock. It didn’t look like LeBron actually fouled, though.

Heat goes for two on next possession. Not a bad choice, but it did take way too long. Wade got bailed out a bit on the foul call, but he made both with 9.6 seconds left.

Inbound play after timeout makes no sense. Howard’s on the floor. Why bother keeping a guy even close to him. You want him to catch the ball. Instead, LeBron completely ignores J.J. Redick after he floats into the backcourt. Why? You want anyone else catching it other than him, but LeBron just chose to stay in the frontcourt. Complete brain fart. Redick makes two free throws, Heat trails by three.

Now for that last possession.

Let’s start with LeBron’s postgame claim that the Magic must’ve scouted the Heat and known that they like to throw the ball in the corner in that spot.

That sounds like a shot at the coach. But watch the play again.

The Magic didn’t “know” anything. They didn’t even switch on the screen from LeBron for Wade, the way people immediately after the game suggested. It was just good defense. It wasn’t a very difficult play to defend, either. Pretty simple screen. J-Rich got a little help from Q-Rich, then just recovered in time to force Miller to throw it elsewhere.

As for Bosh, that action was well designed at the top of the circle. He screened for a curling Bibby, who returned the favor and screened an unsuspecting Howard. Bosh was wide open. Brick.

Here’s the problem with that. Why is Bosh even there? That same action probably gets James Jones wide open. He’s the guy who should be there – Eddie House’s height might have made him a less ideal candidate, plus he hadn’t played a single minute. But Bosh?

Granted, the Magic probably would’ve countered by taking Hwoard out of the game, but Bosh has ended up with that shot far more often than he should have this season. He made a couple, but if you play the percentages, you figure he’s due to miss even more. This was one of them.

What can you say about that final wide-open three from LeBron? He missed it. All that “closer” talk is nonsense. Guys make and they miss in those situations. He missed. Whatever. Even if he had made it and the Heat recovered to win in overtime, it would’ve masked the multitude of problems that were so evident in this game.

  There were some talk after the game that Wade needs to be the guy who plays aggressively in those close-game situations, and that as much as the “who’s team is it?” debate is silly, maybe in those situations there needs to be a clear distinction as to who is the primary guy.

That’s entirely untrue. It doesn’t take a guy taking over late. It takes guys NOT slacking off in the middle of the game. That way you avoid those situations altogether. This isn’t a late-game issue. This is an all-game issue. Picking your spots doesn’t mean playing with no effort in certain stretches and taking horrible shots time and again. Might as well be on the bench.

If the Heat doesn’t turn into a bunch of bickering children as a result of this, it might help them down the road. But this game is on, in order, Wade, Spoelstra and LeBron. There’s no sugarcoating this – especially when you watch it a second time.

--Dwyane Wade clearly hasn't been himself against the Celtics this season. In the first two games, he was 6 of 28 from the field, and Sunday he seemed to get frustrated quickly, and he did what he doesn't normally do, which is respond with some physical play.

Now, the shoulder to Kevin Garnett probably shouldn't have been a flagrant foul. It was either a regular foul or possibly a technical foul. And the fact that he appeared to do it in response to a hard screen Garnett set on Mike Miller, only strengthens the bond as teammates. But still, Wade usually takes out his anger in the scoring column. Against Boston, he's a tad lost.

Granted, Wade had the ball every possession against the C's in the playoffs, and Sunday he found himself standing in the corner more often than he wanted in a tight game. But he has to find a way to make Boston feel all three of the Big Three and not just one or two at a time. If there's any team that Miami needs to have all three going against, it's this one.

--It's funny how, even when you get a handful of favorable calls, it's the critical non-calls that stand out. Well, the Heat got a couple of calls in its favor in the fourth quarter. But the most crucial one went the opposite way. With the Heat down two, LeBron James drove to the goal and was fouled by Kevin Garnett on the shoulder and arm. Not a difficult call to make. Only, it would've been Garnett's sixth, so it's likely the refs were hesitant to blow the whistle.

Making matters more painful for Miami, it was Garnett who hit the next basket that extended the Celtics lead to four points with 1:50 left in the game. The Celtics didn't hit another field goal after that.

--Rajon Rondo did make life difficult for LeBron, at least for a little while. He made LeBron back the ball in over halfcourt, a la Magic Johnson and, less famously, Damon Jones. And he also bothered LeBron some after the ball crossed halfcourt. But that didn't last especially long. Erik Spoelstra says it probably affected Miami for three possessions. In a one-possession game, that's enough to make a difference, but to credit Rondo as the game changer in this one is overlooking his four missed free throws and his missed jumpers and layup down the stretch that could've made the Celtics win a lot easier. Frankly, Von Wafer's 10 points in 14 minutes were almost more devastating because it came from an unexpected source. Rondo, even with the triple-double, was actually held to his season average in points and below his season average in assists and shooting percentage. And Kendrick Perkins was particularly devastating, not just with his 15 points but also with his deflections of Heat passes.

--You can't ask for a better shot than Miller's open three at the top of the key to tie the game. Miller had been out of the game for all but 16 seconds in the fourth quarter, and he did take a shot from Garnett earlier in the half. But I'm sure he'll tell you he wants that same shot every time in a close game.

For that matter, the Heat's shooters (Miller, James Jones and Eddie House) were a combined 1 of 10 from distance, with pretty much all but one House chuck being excellent shots. If the Heat hits two more of those, this game could've been quite different. Of course, the same could be said of the combined 2 of 11 that Paul Pierce and Ray Allen combined to shoot from distance.

There wasn't much to gain in this game against the Cavaliers on Monday. There was more danger, in fact, as James Jones was saying before the game, because the Cavs were a mostly young group that would play hard throughout.

So it's almost not surprising that the Heat let an early 19-point lead dwindle to three points in the third quarter. But it didn't take long at all for that to grow back to 20 and then 30, giving the Heat starters time to rest in the fourth quarter.

Looks like Dwyane Wade's wrist is feeling OK. He had an impressive stretch in the second quarter, during which he hit a three-pointer on his way to 26 first-half points.

Wade and LeBron James continue to build a great chemistry, with probably the best highlight of the game coming when James collapsed the Cavs zone only to find a cutting Wade for a nasty baseline dunk.

The Cavs weren't a very big team, but the Heat's rebounding was still impressive, with Mike Miller fighting for a handful of rebounds on his way to 11, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas tipping his way to a season-best 14 boards.

It's quite clear the plan is to keep this rotation for the rest of the season, with Miller, Eddie House and Jones taking the perimeter minutes off the bench.

The only change-up that can occur down the road is when the Heat can't afford to go small at the four spot. That could mean minutes for Juwan Howard, and ideally, a healthy Udonis Haslem.

The Heat can probably afford to stay small when the reserves are in Thursday against the Magic, because outside of Dwight Howard and Brandon Bass, the Magic don't have much size inside. In fact, Ryan Anderson has been playing backup power forward and center at times.

That should be a great game to watch, and the Heat should be rested and prepared following a day off Tuesday and a full practice Wednesday

Was overhearing a conversation near the end of Saturday's game, with one well-respected L.A.-based journalist saying this wasn't as big an accomplishment for the Heat because the Lakers are struggling so badly.

Well, that isn't fair, is it? You can't play that card and also say that the Heat hasn't beaten very many good teams in its stretch of 14 wins in 15 games. What does the Heat have to do, in that case, to be considered legit? Beat only the Celtics?

The Lakers might have thrown in a clunker against the Bucks on Tuesday, but isn't that all the more incentive for the Lakers to want to beat the Heat? And the Lakers had just won eight of nine before that Bucks loss.

But here were the Lakers, essentially making excuses after the game, complaining about their lack of intensity, etc.

Kobe Bryant said the Lakers are always terrible on Christmas games, Phil Jackson said his team isn't "connected right now." Bryant added that games seem more important to the opponent than it is to them.

Interesting, then, because this was just as much a barometer game for the Lakers as it was for the Heat. It was their first chance to show that it's still L.A., and not the Heat, that is a championship favorite. That seems like some pretty good incentive.

Fact is, this is a very impressive win for Miami, not only because the Heat won in Los Angeles, but because they did it with defense and the rebounding was solid against the bigger Lakers and because all three of the Big Three were effective in so many ways.

It was an impressive display. It would probably feel a little better if the Lakers had a completely healthy Andrew Bynum, because it's that two-headed monster of Bynum and Pau Gasol that is L.A.'s biggest advantage against the Heat, but this is still the Lakers team that started out 8-0 without Bynum.

Chris Bosh has been steady all season, but he's now mixing in the big games more often. He completely outplayed Gasol, and it's encouraging to watch him mix up the jumper and the drive.

LeBron James has been shooting the ball quite well of late, which is scary. He hit 5 of 6 threes Saturday, and he's now shooting 47.5 percent from three-point range in December.

Interesting that Mike Miller wasn't used until garbage time -- also probably frustrating for him given that he targeted this game for his comeback -- but it kind of makes sense to roll with what was working against a team as capable as the Lakers. You can imagine Miller will be back in the rotation against the Knicks on Tuesday, probably taking minutes from James Jones, who was 1 of 6 from the field, all from three, against the Lakers.

Lastly, if I were Mario Chalmers, I'd be working on my three-point shooting a whole lot from now on. Because apparently he's going to get a ton of those looks.

Since the game in Utah on Dec. 8, Mario is averaging 5.4 three-point attempts a game, including nine attempts Saturday. He made three of them on his way to 13 points, but if he's deadly from out there regularly, he could be a serious spark off the bench.