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The Miami Heat were unable to overcome the loss of Chris Bosh, dropping Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at home against the Indiana Pacers.

When LeBron James and Dwyane Wade played together without Bosh on the floor during the regular season, the Heat outscored their opponents by 17 points per 48 minutes. In Game 2, the Pacers outscored the Heat 62-51 in the 32 minutes when they were on the floor together.

The Heat have leaned on James and Wade in the second half of both games against the Pacers. They have combined to score or assist on 81 of Miami’s 90 second-half points, including 33 of 37 points after halftime in Game 2.

In fact, no Heat player other than James and Wade scored more than five points on Tuesday. Elias confirms that no team has ever won an NBA playoff game in which the third-leading scorer had five or fewer points.

James missed two free throws with 54.3 seconds left and the Heat trailing by a single point. He is now shooting just 59 percent from the charity stripe this season in the final minute of one-possession games. The rest of the Heat have made 13 of 15 free throws under similar circumstances.

After the missed free throws, Wade and Mario Chalmers missed game-tying shots in the final 24 seconds. Over the last two seasons, including the playoffs, Wade is 4-for-13 and Chalmers is 1-for-8 on such shots. The four makes and 13 attempts by Wade are the most for the Heat in that span, topping the 2-for-12 effort by James.

It wasn’t only the Heat that went cold in the final two and a half minutes of the game. The teams combined to miss all 10 field goal attempts and six of eight free throws. The Pacers’ two free throws in the final minute were the only points after Wade made a shot with 2:41 left to cut Indiana’s lead to a single point.

The Pacers won despite scoring just 78 points. In the last 25 years, this is the second-lowest point total in a postseason road win for Indiana. The low was also at the Heat, a 73-70 win in the decisive Game 6 in the 2004 Eastern Conference Semifinals.

LeBron is the fifth MVP to play for a team that scored 75 or fewer points in a playoff game. According to Elias, the only MVP to appear for a team scoring fewer points was Allen Iverson, as the Philadelphia 76ers scored 74 points in a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2001.

Without Bosh in the lineup, the Heat had trouble finishing inside five feet. Miami made just 42 percent of its shots from inside five feet, tied for its second-lowest accuracy this season. After outscoring the Pacers 40-22 from close range in Game 1, the Heat were outscored 26-22 on Tuesday and had six shots blocked inside five feet.

The Miami Heat will be without Chris Bosh indefinitely after an MRI showed an abdominal strain.

Bosh missed nine games during the regular season, with the Heat going 4-5 in those games. It’s interesting to note that LeBron James missed three of those nine games and Dwyane Wade missed four of them. They were 2-2 when Wade and James played without Bosh.

When the Heat have needed him, Bosh has made some big shots during the regular season. Bosh led Miami with 19 game-tying or go-ahead field goals in the fourth quarter or overtime during the regular season. By comparison, Wade made 18 while James made 15 such shots.

When James and Wade played together without Bosh on the floor, the Heat outscored their opponents by over 17 points per 48 minutes. That was easily the best out of any combination of the three players.

The Heat will miss Bosh’s scoring production in the front court. Miami had the third highest scoring production during the regular season from their front court starters, who averaged 45.6 points per game. The Orlando Magic (46.5 PPG) and New York Knicks (46.0 PPG) were the only teams ahead of Miami.

With Bosh out indefinitely, look for James to be more aggressive. In six games without Bosh during the regular season, James increased his scoring by four points and also shot a higher percentage from the field than in games Bosh played.

On the flip side, Wade’s production decreased across the board in five games without Bosh this season.

During the regular season, the Heat were nine points better per 48 minutes with Bosh on the court. The difference was on offense, where Miami scored nearly eight more points in the paint per 48 minutes.

Not surprisingly, the Heat also were a better rebounding team and committed fewer turnovers with Bosh on the court.

After seeing a 3-1 series lead vanish after back-to-back losses, the Los Angeles Clippers went on the road and beat the Memphis Grizzlies by 10 points to pick up the first Game 7 win in franchise history.

According to Elias, the Clippers are the sixth team in NBA history to win Game 7 on the road after relinquishing a 3-1 series lead. It was only the third postseason series win in the franchise’s 42-year history and second since the club moved to the West Coast from Buffalo for the 1978-79 season.

The key to Sunday’s win was the defense. The Clippers held the Grizzlies to 72 points. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that’s the second-fewest points allowed on the road in Game 7 during the shot-clock era. The Indiana Pacers beat the Boston Celtics 97-70 in the 1st Round of the 2005 playoffs.

The biggest improvement was in transition defense. In Game 6, the Grizzlies outscored the Clippers 24-11 and made all eight shots in transition. On Sunday, the Grizzlies made only two of nine shots in transition and were outscored 16-6. In their four wins, the Clippers allowed nine points per game in transition; in defeat, that number climbed to 20 points per game.

The Clippers bench outscored the Grizzlies 41-11, with the five players off the bench all finishing with a positive plus-minus. During the 10 minutes that the five bench players were on the court together, they outscored the Grizzlies by 10 points.

The Clippers and Lakers both advancing to the Western Conference Semifinals creates a logjam on the schedule at Staples Center next weekend. With the Los Angeles Kings still alive in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the arena will host four basketball games and two hockey games from Thursday through Sunday, including doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.

The Lakers (Friday and Saturday) and Clippers (Saturday and Sunday) will both be playing on consecutive days. Our friends at Elias let us know that this will be the first time an NBA team has played playoff games on consecutive days since May 10-11, 2003. The Dallas Mavericks played the Sacramento Kings and Detroit Pistons played the Philadelphia 76ers on both of those dates.

Notes from South Beach
Chris Bosh left the game with an abdominal strain in the second quarter, but that didn’t slow down the Miami Heat. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade combined for 42 points in the second half, outscoring the Indiana Pacers on their own. In the fourth quarter, James had 16 points to match the Pacers’ output.

LeBron joined Shaquille O’Neal as the only players in Heat history with a 30-point, 15-rebound playoff game.

After averaging 21.4 points per game in the 1st Round, Danny Granger scored seven points in the first game against the Heat. He was held scoreless in the first half for the first time since April 10, 2007 (regular season and playoffs combined).

The under-the-radar Indiana Pacers head south to take on the larger-than-life Miami Heat as their Eastern Conference semifinal series tips off Sunday at 3:30 ET on ABC.

The Pacers have had a pair of unsuccessful trips to South Florida this season, getting blown out by 35 on Jan. 4 and losing on a Dwyane Wade buzzer-beater on March 10. The 35-point loss was the Pacers' worst in more than two years.

Pacers leading scorer Danny Granger was held to just six points and made 2 of 13 shots from the field in that loss, a major reason he averaged just 13.3 points against the Heat in the regular season, more than five points below his team-best 18.7 scoring average.

While Granger was one of five Pacers to average at least 10 points per game in the regular season, no Miami Heat player topped that level outside of the team’s All-Star trio of Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James, who led Miami with 27.1 points per game.

For the seventh time in seven attempts, James was able to lead his team to a series win in the first round of the postseason this year. But things are about to get tougher for the three-time MVP.

While James is unbeaten in seven first-round series, his team has lost three of his six conference semifinal series, dropping a seven-game series to the Detroit Pistons in 2006 and losing to the Boston Celtics in 2008 and 2010.

It will be strength against strength when James and the Heat attack the Pacers with the pick-and-roll. Miami averaged 0.94 points per play with the pick-and-roll in the regular season, sixth best in the NBA. But Indiana defended the pick-and-roll nearly as well as anyone, allowing just 0.86 points per pick-and-roll play, fourth best in the league.

A better bet for the Heat might be to dump the ball down low to Bosh or have James set up on the block. Indiana allowed 0.91 points per play in post-up situations in the regular season, better than just five teams.

Indiana’s offensive balance is undoubtedly an asset at times, but the lack of a go-to scorer has hurt the Pacers late in close game this season.

Indiana has made just 2 of 12 game-tying or go-ahead shots in the final 24 seconds of a game this season, with six different players attempting such a shot. Granger and Paul George lead the Pacers with three shots each in such situations, but neither has made a game-tying or go-ahead bucket in the final 24 seconds this season.

While the Heat’s end-of-game struggles have been more scrutinized, the Pacers have first-hand knowledge that Wade has emerged as the Heat’s most reliable option late in close games. Wade’s game winner against the Pacers on March 10 was one of his three game-tying or go-ahead buckets in the final 24 seconds this season.

Miami’s problem is if it can’t get it to Wade in such situations. While Wade was 3-for-6 on game-tying or go-ahead field goals in the final 24 seconds this season, the rest of the team was a combined 3-for-10.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Do you trust a man without a conscience, one who operates on a different -- even nonexistent -- moral code?

For basketball purists, that’s a tough one. We subscribe to the high-minded principles of “quality shot selection,” of “taking what the defense gives you,” of “not settling.” These tenets make up the basketball code we romanticize in “Hoosiers” and in the longevity of the San Antonio Spurs.

But Los Angeles Clippers’ swingman Nick Young doesn’t subscribe to this code -- not by a long shot. When Young has the ball in his hands, he doesn't factor his decision-making the way coaches, fans and analysts would.

"I'd say I have no conscience, to a certain extent," Young says. "I feel like I can make any shot. That's something that's been in me since I started playing the game."

Young doesn't deny that he takes a few ill-advised shots a game, but he won't apologize for them. And on Sunday in the Clippers' improbable comeback, he had nothing to be sorry about. He went for 19 points on 11 shots, including a trio of 3-pointers in a span of a minute to shave a 12-point deficit to three in a flash.

Most of those shots on Sunday were open looks, but for most of his tenure with the Clippers the degree of difficulty on his shot selection has been astronomical.

"Those shots? I still think I can make them," Young said. "Some people might think, 'He's glad to shoot that shot,' but I practice those shots."

This entire premise can offend certain sensibilities. I ask Young, "Really? You practice taking contested 21-footers inside the arc with two guys on you?"

"I know I can make 'em," Young says.

This certitude can drive an empiricist nuts. An average NBA game has about 94 possessions, and if you have a guy like Young chucking up bad shots on three or four of those possessions, that can kill your efficiency. Look at the point differentials of most NBA teams -- a bucket or two per game is the difference between a top-four seed and a seat at the draft lottery.

Despite these truths, is it possible that Young has a point? Are some of those bad shots loss leaders that ultimately pay off in a game like Sunday night's?

In an effort to try to make sense of whether a lack of conscience can translate to success, I go in search of Gilbert Arenas.

After Arenas dropped 61 points against the Los Angeles Lakers in December 2006, Kobe Bryant famously said of the then-Washington Wizards star, "He doesn't seem to have much of a conscience. I really don't think he does. Some of the shots he took tonight, you miss those, and they're just terrible shots. Awful. You make them and they're unbelievable shots."

Setting aside the irony of the source, Bryant gets to the heart of the matter. Many interpreted his comments as a swipe at Arenas, but it wasn't. Bryant was just delving into the mindset of the unconscionable shooter, who is neither good nor bad -- but just is.

On Monday, Arenas had plenty to offer on the matter:

The best players in any sport in the world have no conscience.

It's like someone who has ADD (attention deficit disorder). They have a creative mind. They can see things that other people can't see. They can do things that other people can't do. But once they take the medicine, it calms them down -- just like a coach who gives a conscience to a guy who doesn't have a conscience.

It's like an assassin. In any movie, he starts off killing everybody, but then he finds the girl who stops him from being an assassin. That's just like players. The reason Steve Nash can make the passes he can make is because nobody has ever told him when he makes a turnover, "Don't make that pass." Same thing with Rondo. It gives them that freedom to expand and create anything he can think of.

I challenge Arenas on the notion that really bad shots are part of the creative process, that a guy somehow can't be both judicious and aggressive, but he rejected the premise that there's anything wrong with taking a 20-footer with a defender in your face and time on the shot clock:

His creativity lets him do that. It's a shot he thinks he can make. Just like Kobe. If you think about the best players in the world, they have no conscience. They try anything. They do anything. Brett Favre -- he threw any pass he thought he could throw. That's his creativity. That's what he's like. He's going to fail and he's also going to win.

But a guy with a conscience won't pull that trigger.

I ask Arenas whether you can be a great player and still have a conscience.

"I don't think so," Arenas says. "Michael Jordan never had a conscience. A.I. didn't have a conscience. Kobe doesn't have a conscience."

I counter that Kevin Garnett has a conscience, that he exercises an uncommon discipline and has still been one of the best players of his time.

Arenas' response?

And that's why he doesn't get the ball in the fourth quarter. That's why they give it to Paul Pierce, because he has no conscience. LeBron has a conscience. He cares what you think about him. But Kevin Durant doesn't have a conscience. D-Wade doesn't have a conscience. But Bosh has a conscience.

You're born with it or you're not. Some people are what I call "killers." Some people have the killer mentality and that's who you want with the ball at the end of the game. You want them taking that shot because they don't care about failing -- even if it's a bad shot.

It's hard to let Arenas off the hook on this point. Does he deny there are bad shots that cost you basketball games?

That's the game of basketball. You can't go around and play like we did yesterday -- like college basketball when you're up 20 with a few minutes left and you're stalling and you do the four corners, and before you know it, you stop being aggressive.

So the Grizzlies developed a conscience at the wrong time in Game 1?

"Yes," Arenas says.

Arenas' theory that conscience is a congenital trait is interesting. In his worldview, a player can't develop -- or rather shed -- his conscience. He's either hard-wired to kill, like Nick Young or, on a larger scale, Kobe Bryant. Or he's not.

Arenas might be half-right, half-wrong:

A lack of conscience might be a necessary ingredient for Arenas' "killers," but those moral vacuums aren't created equally.

On Sunday, we saw the best of Young's nihilism. Without it, the Grizzlies are up 1-0 in this series. But down the road, it's possible a lack of conscience might shoot the Clippers out of a game.

Such is the fickle nature of the code.

The Heat and Lakers both emerged victorious Sunday afternoon, as Miami clinched the Southeast Division, and Los Angeles moved a game and a half ahead of the Clippers in the Pacific Division.

The Heat relied on their Big Three, and the Lakers leaned on their two bigs, as we learn from diving into the numbers...

Heat 93, Knicks 85
Miami snapped New York's nine-game home win streak, thanks to a combined 73 points from the trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Those three scored 78.5 percent of the Heat's points, their highest percentage in a Miami win this season. With 16 points and 14 rebounds, Bosh recorded his first double-double and second double-digit rebounding game since the All-Star break.

Carmelo Anthony kept the game close with 42 points, the most any player has scored against the Heat this season.

But Anthony got little help from the other Knicks starters, who combined for 19 points. This was the first time since the NBA-ABA merger that the Knicks had a player score 40 or more points with no other starter reaching double figures.

Carmelo Anthony scored 26 of his 42 points on isolation plays, his most points on such plays this season and the most allowed by the Heat.

Lakers 112, Mavericks 108 (OT)Los Angeles improved to 4-1 without Kobe Bryant this season, in large part because of two Pau Gasol three-pointers in overtime. This is the first time Gasol has made two or more treys in a game for the Lakers. He previously did it twice with the Grizzlies, most recently over five years ago in December 2006.

The Lakers have won six straight versus Dallas, and they swept the four-game season series from the Mavericks. The Elias Sports Bureau tells us that the last time a team won all four games of a season series against the defending champion was five years ago, when the Magic swept the Heat.

Since the Mavericks eliminated Los Angeles in four games in last season's Western Conference Semifinals, it's also the fourth time ever that a team swept the season series against the same team that swept them the previous postseason.

Gasol finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Andrew Bynum had 23 points and 16 boards, marking the third time this season they each posted 20 and 10 in the same game.

The Mavericks lost despite scoring 108 points, ending their 18-game win streak when scoring 100 or more points.

Chicago Bulls
PG Derrick Rose  SG Ronnie Brewer  SF Luol Deng  PF Carlos Boozer  C Joakim Noah
Minutes Played: 284
Offensive Rating: 111.6 points per 100 possessions
Defensive Rating: 91.8 points per 100 possessions

How it works offensively
In 2010-11, the Bulls were a middling offensive team that relied on one dominant mode of attack -- a dynamic Rose at the top of the floor. This season, Rose is still the prized asset in the Bulls' scheme, but he's orchestrating a deliberate, savvy offense that's expanded its breadth.

This unit plays at a plodding pace of 90.9 (which would rank them last in the NBA), but it's a tight, killing-you-slowly kind of assault. How many teams pressure you with a point guard like Rose, who collapses the defense anytime he works off the dribble, but can also feed the post and have three quality options from there? When you watch these Bulls move around the court with purpose, it's hard not to see hints of the best of the Deron Williams-Boozer era in Utah -- only better, because Noah's screens and ball skills are so exceptional for a big man.

This group also features two world-class athletes in Deng and Brewer who understand how to play off a penetrator, as well as a couple of big guys who know how to hit a cutter. Ever since Derrick Rose arrived on the scene in Chicago, we've been hearing about how the Bulls have a fatal hole at shooting guard. Bulls fans, you have your shooting guard. His name is Ronnie Brewer.

The rap on Brewer has always been that he can't space the floor. Fair enough, because Brewer is a subpar shooter from beyond 10 feet. But elite teams find workarounds for flawed players, and the Bulls have maximized Brewer's many strengths beautifully. Spacing is a nice attribute to have in an offense, but movement is woefully underrated in today's game. And you won't find a lot of players who move more intently off the ball than Brewer. He might not hit a shot for you from 24 feet, but he never stops moving. Feed, clear, cut and repeat.

Would there be more space for Rose to work if he had a couple of wings who were better conventional shooters than Brewer and Deng? Possibly, but there are more ways to bludgeon an opponent than a drive-and-kick. Putting bodies in motion and forcing opponents into bad decisions with endless actions has its virtues.

How it works defensively
The vaunted Tom Thibodeau defense is no longer an exotic mystery cooked up in some lab in Cambridge, Mass. It's simply standard operating procedure for several NBA defenses -- but few, if any, of the imitators run it with the precision this unit does.

On nearly every half-court possession, the Bulls' defense has one objective -- keep the ball out of the middle of the floor. Once they have you confined to the sideline and you try to, for example, run a pick-and-roll, the Bulls will strangle you like a python by trapping, then bringing a third defender to the ball side of the paint to add further pressure.

What makes this unit particularly deadly when they implement this defense? Let's start with Joakim Noah. Bringing three guys to the ball is all well and good, but it doesn't help if you don't have two defenders who can cover the rest of the floor in what's essentially a two-man zone. There isn't a big man who performs this task better than Noah. He instinctively knows where the offensive threat is coming from -- when the ball will be reversed out of that pressure, to whom it will go to and how to best help without compromising the system.

Throw in two lanky defenders like Brewer and Deng, whose length, agility and smarts allow them to both stifle defenders on the ball or work as Noah's partner in that backside zone, and you have the components for the most difficult defense to score against in the NBA.

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Orlando Magic
PG Jameer Nelson  SG J.J. Redick  SF Hedo Turkoglu  PF Ryan Anderson  C Dwight Howard
Minutes Played: 178
Offensive Rating: 118.3 points per 100 possessions
Defensive Rating: 98.4 points per 100 possessions

How it works offensively
How good has this group been with the ball? There isn't a five-man unit that's recorded a higher offensive rating or a larger point differential in its favor. This isn't Orlando's most-used unit -- that would be the starters with Jason Richardson at shooting guard instead of Redick (402 minutes on the floor versus 178). The starting five aren't chopped liver, but the Redick-at-the-2 unit blows them away.

In many respects, this unit evokes the halcyon days of the Magic, circa 2009. Stan Van Gundy is one of the great pragmatists in the league. He deftly appraises his personnel on the floor and always seems to find a way to maximize those players' strengths while minimizing their weaknesses. These are familiar schemes that leverage Howard's presence down low to open up the perimeter for the Magic's snipers along the perimeter -- specifically Redick and Anderson.

Many times it starts with a high pick-and-roll with Nelson and Howard. The Magic get penetration or a deep feed to Howard in the paint, which forces the defense to collapse. When that happens, you know the drill -- a kickout to Redick or to a lifted Anderson for a clean look at a 3-pointer. Nelson has also developed a nice pick-and-pop rhythm with Anderson to find him open shots.

Other times, they initiate offense through Turkoglu on the left side. Turkoglu's efficiency numbers have fallen off since 2009 (he's shooting poorly and turning the ball over too frequently), but he's still capable of putting the ball on the floor and finding shots for others, and getting Howard the ball where he likes it. Redick is in constant motion in the Magic's half-court sets, breezing around baseline screens, getting free via pin-downs and using his escape dribble along the perimeter to find space.

And that's how an NBA unit chalks up a gaudy true shooting percentage of 60.5 percent, even with a below-average free throw rate.

How it works defensively
This unit earns its money on the offensive end -- a 98.4 defensive rating isn't anything to be ashamed of, but doesn't qualify as elite. Still, these five are getting a sufficient number of stops.

Unlike their contemporaries up in Chicago, Orlando places more of a premium on chasing shooters off the 3-point line, and they have the luxury of staying at home because they have a very large man with very broad shoulders manning the basket area and cleaning up any blow-bys that might occur. How is that going? Opponents are shooting 24 percent from beyond the arc against this unit and converting only 4.8 3-pointers per game. That is what chopped liver tastes like.

As imposing as Howard is under the basket, altering shots and intimidating, his pick-and-roll defense is also a key ingredient to this unit's defensive success. The Magic don't need to rotate all that often and, when they do, Howard recovers promptly to the back line and those rotators can immediately dash back to the perimeter where they can contest long shots with a close out, or just stagnate the offense.

One-on-one defense can occasionally be problematic, but Redick's tenacity -- both on-the-ball and chasing rabbits like Ray Allen around screens -- is vastly underrated. Turkoglu is no Tony Allen, but his length and awareness of where Howard is lurking makes him an adequate defender, as well. Finally, Nelson is a sturdy fireplug who can use his strength to bother opposing point guards, though he does yield his share of blow-bys.

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Miami Heat
PG Mario Chalmers  SG Dwyane Wade  SF LeBron James  PF Chris Bosh  C Joel Anthony
Minutes Played: 389
Offensive Rating: 109.9 points per 100 possessions
Defensive Rating: 94.7 points per 100 possessions

How it works offensively
This past summer, Erik Spoelstra immersed himself in a single exercise: Examine how he could make life easier for the Heat's offense by diversifying their attack. In 2010-11, Spoelstra grappled with several strategies -- elements of the Rick Adelman's corner offense, "elbow sets" run through Bosh with multiple triggers and even some old Hubie Brown sets to free up shooters. The Heat finished the season as the NBA's third-ranked offense.

Spoelstra came to a realization, one that didn't necessarily conform to his natural instincts: The Heat could do better, and to achieve that improvement, it would require less conventional structure. He has freed up James and Wade, made transition opportunities and early offense priorities (Miami has gone from 21st in pace last season to 12th this season) and found new ways to space the floor.

So far as Wade and James, they have one imperative -- catch the ball and attack and don't allow the defense to set. No more dawdling at the top of the floor, waiting for stuff that never materializes. Off that, the Heat have found gold with Chalmers' vastly improved outside shot. The Heat were assembled with the idea that James and Wade would have quality shooters primed for kickouts, and with Chalmers, they have a teammate shooting 44.3 percent from 3-point-land.

Fewer sets are being run through Bosh at the high post with this unit, though he's still able to facilitate when the pace settles into a more deliberate, half-court game. Many of those sets that started with Bosh at the high post are now being initiated with James at the "Karl Malone" spot off the mid-post. Meanwhile, Bosh and Anthony screen with the best of them -- especially to lend space for Wade to attack -- and Bosh is still superb at lifting to a spot 18 feet away from the hoop for a no-dribble J.

How it works defensively
Spoelstra is still experimenting and tinkering with the Heat's schemes. Many a night, Miami is flirting with a Thibodeau-style strongside strategy, but one with a bit less structure and more freedom for James and Wade to rove. This isn't coming without costs: This unit is giving up 19.2 3-point attempts per 48 minutes, and opponents are shooting 40.4 percent from beyond the arc in the process.

The Heat are aware of the shortcoming and seem willing to tolerate a few gimmes on the perimeter in service of their larger defensive goal -- create chaos. That means more ball pressure than ever from Chalmers, and Bosh and Anthony jumping out with impunity on every ball screen. When it comes to defending the pick-and-roll, Bosh and Anthony might be the best big man tandem in the business at showing hard and recovering to the right spot on the back line.

Most of all, Spoelstra is encouraging James and Wade to operate as free safeties in what can be described as a quasi-two-man zone. Spoelstra's nature favors order over chaos and he traditionally has discouraged gambling, but he's come to appreciate that doubling-down on his team's athleticism makes good sense.

The results are there. Opponents are turning the ball 16.8 times per 48 minutes against this group. More impressive, the unit generates 23.3 points per 48 minutes off these turnovers and 22.5 fast-break points per 48 minutes. There simply isn't a defense in the world that can stop James and Wade in the open floor and the Heat's newfound guerrilla defense has maximized these opportunities.

• It's near impossible to stop Chris Paul, but the trend around the league is to use a long, athletic swingman to smother the 6-foot point guard. That tactic has been effective for Golden State and Dallas, which used Dominic McGuire and Shawn Marion, respectively, to slow down Paul and the Clippers. But after reading this excellent post (with a great video of Paul discussing how he attacks taller players), I'm thinking that it takes more than one tall guy with quick feet to shut down CP3.
• Something new on Jeremy Lin: a stereotype scholar explains how racial stereotypes worked both for and against the Knicks point guard.
• Unexpected: John Hollinger says the Knicks are playing better defense when DPOY candidate Tyson Chandler sits. Expected: This has a lot to do with Chandler sharing the court with Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. (Insider)
• Brandon Jennings has the foot speed to be a disruptive defender, but coach Scott Skiles would like to see him be a bit more conservative: “The thing that Brandon always has to battle is going for a steal, 'cause he can steal the ball. He had [Lou Williams] all bottled up, six, five left on the shot clock and he went for a steal, Lou went to his right hand and shot a dotted line jump shot. He’s still working on it, he’s just got to battle the urge to gamble when it’s just keep my man in front of me.”
• Is Chris Bosh better than LeBron James or Dwyane Wade? No. But he may be less dispensable to the Heat's offense. Brian Windhorst reports that Chris Bosh will return to the Heat lineup tonight after missing three games (two of them losses) following the death of his grandmother.
• The Raptors are fighting hard for new coach Dwane Casey, but it's still important that they lose their fair share of games in order to nab a high lottery pick. So, according to Prospect of Raptors Republic, last night was a perfect game: "The Raptors were outmatched, undermanned, but still somehow managed to put in a scrappy effort and almost won the game, pleasing tank nation while still giving the home fans a reason to show up."
• D.J. Foster on why the Clippers should be nervous about the postseason:"The best teams in the league force you to pick your poison, but the Clippers don’t really do that — Paul just administers the poison on his own and kills you himself. Eventually though, teams will start doubling Paul as soon as he crosses half court. We’ve seen it before in New Orleans — it’s not that crazy of a thought. They’ll get the ball out of his hands, and if they fail at that, they’ll collapse on him as soon as he moves towards the rim. Defenses will make anyone other than Paul beat them. A good portion of the time Paul will still beat them, but at times it will come down to things like this: Can Blake Griffin hit a mid-range jumper? Can Caron Butler hit the open 3 from the corner? Can Randy Foye make the right decision?
• Jan Vesely wants in the dunk contest. Anyone whose nickname is "Air Wolf" gets my blessing.
• Evan Turner's first start of the season didn't go so well. Should he be starting at all?
• For GQ, Bethlehem Shoals writes that fans give Lamar Odom the benefit of the doubt because he's never been shy about showing an emotional vulnerability that is unusual for professional athletes, but pretty common in most humans.
• The Charlotte Bobcats are making a legitimate run at being the worst team of all time. Related: Boris Diaw remains hopelessly out of shape, which may mean he's consuming calories equivalent to 200 White Castle burgers a week.
• Zach Lowe takes on the impossible task of quantifying Rajon Rondo's trade value.
• Plenty of people want to see Steve Nash get traded to a contender. But moving Robin Lopez might be more beneficial to the Suns.
• Despite missing Zach Randolph all season, the Grizzlies lurk as a sleeper to once again make a run in the Western Conference playoffs. But to do so, should they make a trade before the deadline?
• A lot has already happened since the All-Star break. Here's a funny video recap of it all (and some made up stuff, too).

After missing three games following the death of his grandmother, Chris Bosh will be back in the Miami Heat lineup Tuesday night against New Jersey, and his impact should be felt at both ends of the court.

The Heat lost two of three games without Bosh, winning in Portland before falling on the road against the Jazz and Lakers.

Miami's offense dipped only slightly without Bosh, scoring 107.4 points per 100 possessions in the three games, compared to 107.9 during the rest of the season.

But Bosh's return should make the Miami offense work differently, both inside and outside the 3-point arc.

Per 48 minutes this season, the Heat have scored 6.2 more points in the paint per game with Bosh on the floor. Their shooters also play better with him, making 3s at a rate 5.1 percentage points higher when he's on the court.

Miami relies heavily on Bosh in the post and in the pick-and-roll. Bosh leads the Heat this season with 144 points from plays in the post. Aside from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, no other Miami player has more than 11 points on post-up plays this season.

Bosh has been one of the most efficient roll men in the league this season, shooting 61.5 percent from the field and scoring more than half of the Heat's points on such plays.

Without Bosh in the lineup the past three games, the Heat got only eight points from roll men in pick-and-roll plays.

For all the ways he affects the Heat offense, Bosh's biggest impact may be on the defensive end. Miami allowed 105.9 points per 100 possession in the three games he missed, nine points more than the 96.9 the team allowed before his absence.

Two of the hottest teams in the NBA met as the league prepared for the All-Star Break, with the home-standing Miami Heat claiming an easy victory over the New York Knicks.

The Knicks shot 39 percent from the field against the Heat, their lowest shooting percentage since Jeremy Lin took over as the starting point guard on Feb. 6. Lin was 1-for-11 from the field with eight points and three assists, his lowest totals when playing at least 20 minutes this season.

Lin was guarded by Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole for the majority of his offensive plays on Thursday. He was 0-for-5 and had six of his eight turnovers while being guarded by Miami’s two point guards and did not find more success against other defenders.

Lin wasn’t the only Knicks player who had trouble holding onto the basketball. Lin and Amar'e Stoudemire each had six turnovers in the first half, becoming the first pair of teammates with at least five turnovers before halftime this season. As a team, the Knicks 15 first-half turnovers tied the highest total in the league this season.

Unlike Lin’s previous games as a starter, the Knicks were more effective without Lin on the court against the Heat.

In his first 10 games as the starting point guard, the Knicks shot 48 percent and were +81 with him on the floor. On Thursday, the Knicks outscored the Heat by five points and shot a better percentage without its starting point guard.

The Knicks aren’t the only team that the Heat have beaten handily in the last two weeks. Miami has won its last eight games by double figures, the second-longest streak in franchise history. The Heat won nine straight in late 2010.

This isn’t the first time that LeBron James has been part of a team on a streak like this. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Heat are the first team to win eight straight games by at least 12 points since the LeBron-led Cleveland Cavaliers won nine straight in 2008.

For the first time this season, all three members of Miami’s Big Three finished with 20 or more points. Since the trio arrived in South Beach, the Heat are 19-3 when all three score at least 20 points.

During the streak, Chris Bosh has found his shooting stroke. Bosh was 7-for-10 from 10+ feet against the Knicks, and is shooting 75 percent from that range in his last three games. Entering Thursday’s game, he was shooting 43 percent from 10+ feet this season.

Chris Bosh had the magic touch … again.

Bosh may only be a 29 percent 3-point shooter for his career, but there’s something about late-game 3-pointers that suits him well. On a night in which the Heat were without both LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, Bosh’s game-tying 3-pointer was the biggest shot in the Heat’s eventual triple-overtime win.

Since the start of the 2007 season, Bosh is now 6-for-10 from long range in the last 10 seconds of the 4th quarter/overtime of a tie or one-possession game.

That was one of a few remarkable stats from a remarkable game, in which the Heat outlasted the Atlanta Hawks.

Some of the others from this game included:

• The Hawks were shut out in the third overtime. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this was the first game since the advent of the shot clock in the 1954-1955 season that a team went scoreless in the third overtime of a game or later.

• In 312 minutes last season without both Dwyane Wade and LeBron James on the floor, the Heat were outscored by 27 points. In 90 minutes so far this season, the Heat have outscored opponents by 12, including the seven-point edge in Thursday’s victory.

• The Heat outscored the Hawks by 24 points with Mario Chalmers on the floor. In eight games this season, Chalmers is +109.

Elsewhere in the NBA

Mavericks can’t shoot straight
The Mavericks went 1-19 from 3-point range tonight against the Spurs. That was their worst 3-point shooting in franchise history in a game with more than 10 attempts.

Lamar Odom was once again held to single digits, finishing with 6 points on 3-10 shooting. Despite shooting just 3-for-10, he actually raised his field goal percentage for the season. Last year, Odom scored in double figures in all but one of his first eight games.

Westphal out in Sacramento
Paul Westphal was fired by the Sacramento Kings just seven games into the season.

That's tied for the second-quickest firing since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976-1977.

The Kings can only hope to get the same turnaround as the 1977-78 Philadelphia 76ers, who replaced Gene Shue with Billy Cunningham six games into the season, a year after reaching the NBA Finals.

The team went 53-23 the rest of the way and Cunningham led the Sixers to eight straight playoff appearances and the 1983 NBA title.

The Miami Heat stayed perfect the hard way.

How difficult is it to win a game in which you get outrebounded by 23, as the Heat were on Wednesday in their comeback victory over the Charlotte Bobcats?

Since the start of the 2005-06 season, NBA teams entered Wednesday with a 9-95 record when being beaten on the boards by at least that significant a margin.

It was the first time in team history that the Heat won a game in which they were outrebounded by at least 20 (they are 1-23 in such games).

A few other notes and nuggets from that contest:

The Wade Winner
Over the past two seasons, Wade is 2-for-5 on game-tying or go-ahead shots in the final 24 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime.

That’s better than both LeBron James (1-for-8) or Chris Bosh (0-for-2) since the trio became teammates.

Halfcourt Happenings
After allowing Charlotte to shoot nearly 60 percent in the half court in the first half, Miami picked it up in the final two quarters, forcing 12 half-court turnovers and holding the Bobcats under 20 points in its half-court offense.

Offensively, the Heat struggled in half-court sets, making just 23-of-59 shots, a sharp contrast to Tuesday’s win over the Boston Celtics, in which they shot 51 percent in halfcourt.

Bosh’s best
Chris Bosh had his best game of the season with 25 points and was also strong on the defensive end, holding his man to 4-for-11 shooting from the field. In three games, the player Bosh has guarded is 10-for-30 overall.

Elsewhere in the NBA
Safe at home
The Elias Sports Bureau notes that the San Antonio Spurs have won their last 17 home games against the Clippers, the third-longest current home winning streak for any NBA team against another.

The Spurs own the longest streak, having won their last 26 home contests against the Warriors, while the Suns have 23 straight home wins over the Bucks.

Thunder survive an 0-for
The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Memphis Grizzlies, 92-90, despite an 0-for-13 from the field by point guard Russell Westbrook.

A check of Basketball-Reference.com showed this to be only the fourth time since the 1985-86 season that a team won a game in which it had a player shoot 0-for-13 or worse from the field, the first since David Wesley for the Hornets against the New Jersey Nets in 2001.

Celtics starting similar to Red Sox
The Celtics are 0-3 for the fourth time in the last 40 seasons. In the three other seasons in that run (1977-78, 1994-95, and 2006-07), the Celtics finished a combined 91-155.

Plus-Minus Note of the Night
Indiana Pacers point guard Darren Collison had 10 points and 12 assists in a 90-85 win over the Toronto Raptors, but also of note was that in the 38 minutes that he was on the floor, the Pacers outscored the Raptors by 16 points.

• Kyle Weidie of Truth About It offers up a multimedia presentation of how Deron Williams tied the Wizards in knots with ball screens.
• The Heat posted unsightly numbers against the Celtics' zone on Tuesday night but, as Zach Lowe of The Point Forward writes, the Heat had a coherent strategy to combat it: "A great example came with about 3:30 left in the game, when the Heat flashed a key potential zone antidote they used a lot: starting a possession with one of their wing stars (Dwyane Wade on this one) as the only person on one entire side of the floor (the left side in this case). That forced the Boston defense to tilt heavily to the right, where James handled the ball on the outside, near all his teammates except Wade. As LeBron dribbled, Chris Bosh flashed from the top of the three-point arc to below the foul line, drawing the man closest to Wade (Dooling) down into the paint, and forcing him to temporarily turn his back to Wade. At that exact moment, LeBron tossed a pass to Wade, who caught it on the move toward the middle of the floor, his momentum taking him the opposite direction as Boston’s defenders, including Dooling, now tilting madly from James’ side of the floor to Wade’s. Wade did not hestitate: With Dooling wrong-footed, Wade drove into the paint, where Dooling fouled him. Without a shot, the play almost vanishes from game logs everywhere, but it represents one key way the Heat can combat a zone; both James and Wade got layups against it out of action just like this."
• Historiographers have identified the origins of sports panic -- the phenomenon dates back to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 17th Century. Is it time to panic in Boston?
• Tony Allen kindly asks that you set up your voicemail already.
• You should buy the full 2011-12 PDF from Basketball Prospectus, but if you want the crib notes from Kevin Pelton -- a single paragraph and projected record for each of the 30 teams -- click here.
• An interview with Clippers vice president of basketball operations Neil Olshey at Yahoo! Radio.
• Be Milwaukee!
• The Trail Blazers are 2-0 and when you take inventory of LaMarcus Aldridge's versatility as a big man and the smart pieces around them, they look primed for a pretty decent season. Tom Ziller of SB Nation: "[T]he way in which the Blazers have played, mixing the tough defense you know Gerald Wallace and Wesley Matthews will bring with the smooth scoring ability of LaMarcus Aldridge and deft shooting of Matthews and Nicolas Batum, mixed with able playmaking from Raymond Felton and Marcus Camby -- despite the caveats and despite the great misfortune of losing Brandon Roy forever and Greg Oden for a while longer, Portland looks like a real contender in the West."
• The Bucks led the Timberwolves 94-84 with under 4:00 remaining. Then Minnesota ripped off an 8-0 run to close the deficit to two points. The lineup on the floor for the Timberwolves? Ricky Rubio, Luke Ridnour, Michael Beasley, Kevin Love and Anthony Tolliver. Zach Harper describes the final play call of a frustrating night for Minnesota: "Finding themselves down three with seven seconds left, they devised a play without much action away from the ball to free up Kevin Love for the game-tying attempt. Love set a down screen for Luke which enabled Luke to catch the ball roughly 35 feet from the basket. Love then set a screen for Wes near the top of the arc and then ran to the other win. Luke took two dribbles passed it to Love and he took a contested 3-pointer with four seconds left. It was one of the most basic plays you would ever find coming out of a timeout and it resulted in Love taking a contested 26-footer to try to tie the game."
• Bret LaGree of Hoopinion on Joe Johnson: "Can still get anywhere he wants on the floor, presuming where he wants to get isn't within 15 feet of the basket."
• Want to talk Pacers-Raps after tonight's game? Visit with Jared Wade and Tim Donahue on Pacers Talk Live at Eight Points, Nine Seconds.
• Ricky Davis will start his NBA comeback as a Red Claw.
• NBA commentators put Google+ hangout to use.

The Miami Heat led by as many as 20 points in the second half before letting the Boston Celtics cut it to three in the final two minutes.

But rookie Norris Cole scored 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, including eight of Miami's final nine points to help seal the 115-107 Heat win.

The Heat have won two straight regular-season meetings with the Celtics after losing the previous eight meetings.

The "Big Three" of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh combined for 68 points on 62.5 percent shooting Tuesday. Nearly 48 percent of their shots came inside five feet, where they made 16 of 19 field goals. Last season, the trio attempted 36 percent of their field goals inside five feet.

The Celtics drop to 0-2 for the first time since acquiring Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.

The Celtics were able to close the gap in part because the Heat stopped attacking the basket in the fourth quarter, settling for jumpers from 20 feet and beyond on 10 of their 21 attempts.

With less than three minutes remaining in the third quarter, Doc Rivers switched to a zone defense, and the Heat struggled to adapt.

Boston played zone on just two percent of all plays last season, but had success with it Tuesday. Miami's half-court offense was effective against man-to-man, shooting better than 60 percent in the half court, but the Heat were held under 30 percent against the zone.

While their offense stalled in the half court against the zone, Miami’s not having trouble playing its desired style so far this season.

The Heat are averaging 102.5 possessions per game, well above their 2010-11 season average of 93.2 (21st in NBA).

Miami had 104 possessions against the Celtics Tuesday night, making it the Heat's fastest regulation game in the last two years.

James finished with 26 points, six rebounds and five assists. James has 63 points in his first two games, a Heat record for most points in the first two games of the season.

But James scored two points in the fourth quarter, attempting just two shots. Dating back to the NBA Finals, James has failed to score more than five points in the fourth quarter in eight straight games.