Miami Heat

Knowing his bad leg would keep him out of the game, Shaquille O'Neal pulled Alonzo Mourning to the side during the Miami Heat's morning shootaround. "I need you tonight," O'Neal told Mourning. "Say no more," Mourning replied. The 35-year-old with the transplanted kidney stepped in for the Diesel and played 35 minutes, scored 14 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and blocked 4 shots. Sure, he looked every bit his age when he was slow getting downcourt a few times, but Mourning and Dwyane Wade had more than enough last night to lead the Heat to a 102-95 victory over the host Washington Wizards.

LeBron James was promised some rest. It never came. The MVP didn't care, not after he and the Miami Heat struck the first blow against the Indiana Pacers. James accepted his third MVP trophy from Commissioner David Stern before the game, then scored 26 of his game-high 32 points while playing every second of the second half — adding a season-high 15 rebounds as well — as the Heat survived some rough stretches to beat the Pacers 95-86 on Sunday in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Whoops. The Miami Herald today ran a Macy's advertisement offering NBA championship gear for a championship the Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks Sunday night. Working at a newspaper, I've learned that the folks who put out the paper you know and love aren't the folks who fill it with ads, and so there are bound to be some mistakes. But the Heat were down 3-2 going into last game and didn't even have a chance to win the title Sunday night. Someone goofed big time.

LeBron James decided not to play in New York two summers ago. He won't be playing there any more this season, either. The Knicks have been put away, and the Miami Heat are headed to the second round of the NBA playoffs. James had 29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade both scored 19 points and the Heat ousted the Knicks 106-94 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference first-round series Wednesday night. Miami won the series 4-1, and will meet Indiana in the East semifinals starting Sunday in Miami.

The Dallas Mavericks’ win over the Heat is a huge upset for fans in Miami. Making matters worse, an ad in the local paper has mistakenly congratulated the Heat on winning. A full-page ad that ran in Monday’s Miami Herald reads “Congratulations Miami’’ next to photos of Heat championship T-shirts and hats from Macy’s. One T-shirt reads “Heat 2011 NBA Finals Champions’’ and the ad shows the Heat’s logo on a hat with the words “NBA Champions.’’ The ad ran under a story about the Heat’s loss.

Relax, Miami. LeBron James isn't leaving the Heat. Not yet anyway. One day after saying he would not rule out a return to play for the Cavaliers at some point in his career, the superstar did not back away from those comments. James, though, did try to reassure fans who may have taken his remarks the wrong way that he's fully committed to helping the Heat win an NBA title this season "I love the fans of Miami. I'm here," he said following Friday's shootaround as the Heat prepared to play the Cavs.

Local celebs at Sunday's Celtics game against the Miami Heat included Patriots safety Patrick Chung, Doc Rivers's son Austin, who's about to go pro, 6one7 Productions nightlife guru Ace Gershfield, Boston College alum and Detroit Lions player Gosder Cherilus, EchoStor Technologies boss John Dooley, and the Slater Foundation's Sam Slater.

Ty Lawson returned from a sprained right foot to score 24 points, and the Denver Nuggets sent the Miami Heat to their third straight loss with a 117-104 victory on Friday night. LeBron James had 35 points for the Heat, who have lost their last 10 games in Denver. Nene added 17 points for the Nuggets. Rudy Fernandez and Al Harrington each had 15 points. Lawson, who was held out of Wednesday's game against New Jersey, also had nine assists.

Mavericks stars Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry insist they don’t care that their second crack at an NBA championship is coming against the Miami Heat, the team that kept them from winning it all the first time around. Terry and Nowitzki are the only holdovers from the 2006 Mavericks; Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem are the only guys remaining on the Heat. Both teams have changed coaches and playing styles. Terry admitted that he’s made a then-and-now comparison of both teams.

Derrick Rose cautions against buying into the hype. LeBron James suggests it's not much more than just another game. The past two NBA MVPs sound like masters of understatement. Rose and the Chicago Bulls visit James and the Miami Heat on Sunday, the first matchup of the season between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. Chicago won all three regular-season games last season by a combined eight points, before the Heat captured the East finals in five games and capped that series with a wild comeback on the Bulls' floor.

Jeremy Lin knows he would have been rusty and probably not in great shape if he tried to play for the New York Knicks in this playoff series against the Miami Heat. He could handle those things. What he couldn't handle was the unknown, that being how much his surgically repaired left knee could handle if he tried to play too soon. So with the Knicks already having lost guards Baron Davis and Iman Shumpert to serious knee injuries already in this series — there's little chance Davis will play at all next season, and Shumpert's availability for the start of next season...

LeBron James scored 26 points, Chris Bosh finished with 22 points and nine rebounds, and the Miami Heat steadily pulled away to beat the Detroit Pistons 98-75 on Sunday night. James Jones scored 18 on 6-for-8 shooting from 3-point range for Miami, which played without Dwyane Wade for the 11th time this season. Wade sat out with right ankle soreness, which the team said was caused by an awkward landing on a missed dunk attempt against Memphis on Friday night. The Heat are now 10-1 when Wade is sidelined this season, and are 18-1 in their last 19 home games.

Local celebs at Sunday's Celtics game against the Miami Heat included Patriots safety Patrick Chung, Doc Rivers's son Austin, who's about to go pro, 6one7 Productions nightlife guru Ace Gershfield, Boston College alum and Detroit Lions player Gosder Cherilus, EchoStor Technologies boss John Dooley, and the Slater Foundation's Sam Slater.

BOSTON — Rajon Rondo had a triple-double and the Boston Celtics handed Miami its biggest loss of the season, pulling away for a 91-72 win over the Heat on Sunday. The Celtics outscored the Heat 31-12 in the third quarter, turning a 49-44 halftime lead into an 80-56 advantage. They stayed ahead by at least 19 the rest of the way for their fifth straight win. Miami's last three losses have been by at least 15 points and its previous worst defeat of the season came just one week earlier in a 103-87 setback at Oklahoma City.

Kevin Durant had 28 points, nine rebounds and tied his season-high with eight assists, Kendrick Perkins added a season-best 16 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder opened a difficult stretch in their schedule by beating the Miami Heat 103-87 on Sunday night. The two title contenders opened the day tied for the second-best record in the NBA, three games behind the Chicago Bulls in the race for the top overall seed in the playoffs. Oklahoma City claimed this one, getting a season-high 13 steals and forcing Miami into 21 turnovers that led to 28 Thunder points.

Dwyane Wade scored 14 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter, Chris Bosh added 23 points and the Miami Heat beat the Orlando Magic 91-81 on Sunday night to extend their home winning streak to 13 games. LeBron James finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and five steals for the Heat. His pass with 3:46 left made it past two Magic defenders and set up Bosh for perhaps the clincher, a three-point play that stretched Miami's lead to 84-73. And with the way Miami was playing defense, that was enough: Orlando scored 12 points in a span of nearly 16 minutes...

Dwyane Wade scored 14 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter, Chris Bosh added 23 points and the Miami Heat beat the Orlando Magic 91-81 on Sunday night to extend their home winning streak to 13 games. LeBron James finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and five steals for the Heat. His pass with 3:46 left made it past two Magic defenders and set up Bosh for perhaps the clincher, a three-point play that stretched Miami's lead to 84-73. And with the way Miami was playing defense, that was enough: Orlando scored 12 points in a span of nearly 16 minutes in the second half.

One stingy defensive stretch was enough to carry the Miami Heat past LeBron James's former team once again. And it might have gotten the Heat prepped for a daunting road stretch as well. Dwyane Wade scored 26 points, James added 24, and the Heat said farewell to their home floor for nearly two weeks by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers, 107-91, last night in Miami. The Heat's lead was only a point late in the third quarter, before the Cavaliers missed 17 of their next 19 shots and Miami finally pulled away.

John Lucas III scored 24 points, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Miami Heat 106-102 without Derrick Rose in a charged showdown between the Eastern Conference's top two teams on Wednesday. The Bulls built a 16-point lead in the second quarter, were up 11 at halftime and boosted it back to 17 in the third after a push by Miami. They then hung on after Miami closed within two in the closing minute for their 11th win in 12 games. Even better, they won without their superstar, and they did it on a night when Dwyane Wade scored 36 and LeBron James finished with 35 points for Miami.

LeBron James scored 21 points and capped his night by banking in a halfcourt shot, Chris Bosh added 20 points and the Miami Heat snapped a two-game slide by rolling past the New Jersey Nets 108-78 on Tuesday night. The win came with a cost: Dwyane Wade turned his right ankle late in the first half and did not return, finishing with 13 points. Wade missed six games earlier this season after spraining the same ankle, though the team said he could have returned to this one if needed.