How much are you willing to pay to see Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks take on the league's hottest team in Miami?

Apparently, a lot.

It's the hottest ticket on the planet right now. A long-time Heat official told me last night that the Knicks-Heat game on Thursday is the most requested game for tickets he can remember.

More than last season's Finals.

I wanted to put a number on it so I contacted TiqIq, a ticket data company that tracks the secondary market (eBay, StubHub, etc), to shed some light on the ticket market for Knicks vs. Heat on Thursday night.

Here's what they gave me (it's stunning):

• The average home ticket price for the Miami Heat is $218.54
• The average price for this Thursdays Knicks @ Heat game is $612.23
• The current get in price (seated) is $131
• The highest priced ticket is in Courtside South Row AA for $9,400+
• This match up between the Knicks and Heat is 122.1% higher then their match up earlier in the season in Miami ($275.66)
• This is game is 180.2% higher then the Heat's home average ticket price
• The average price for this game has risen 178% since Tuesday 2/7 (day after Lin's first start ($220.23)

Below is data on their previous 2 match ups @ Miami:

• 2/27/11-Avg price was $387.92 with a get in price of $60
• 1/27/12-Avg price was $275.66 with a get in price of $43

Yes, someone is asking for about $10,000 for a ticket to regular season game in February. And it just might work. Linsanity, indeed.

MIAMI - Credit the Sacramento Kings for at least making the Miami Heat work hard into the fourth quarter on Tuesday. Still, the Heat got 30 points and 10 assists from Dwyane Wade and six 3-pointers from Mario Chalmers to pull away for a 120-108 victory that extended their winning streak to seven.

Next up: Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks on Thursday night. Check out our latest Heat 'Temp Check' show for a recap of Tuesday's win and a look ahead to the most anticipated game of the season as Linsanity looms.

The Heat sit atop our power rankings and have beaten their last six opponents by double-digit points. Everything seems to be going right for them as they head into their match against the Sacramento Kings.

Are the Heat peaking too early? Should they be worried about the lack of close games to sharpen their clutch execution? Are there legitimate concerns at this juncture in the season?

In another installment of the Heat Index's 3-on-3 series, our writers give their takes on the storylines before the Heat (25-7) take on the (10-21) Kings.

1. Fact or Fiction: the Heat should be concerned about peaking too early.

Tom Haberstroh: Fiction. Erik Spoelstra is still keeping plenty in his back pocket for the playoffs, so I don't think we're seeing anything close to the final product right now. This team still has room to grow. Sure, they've made games look like Varsity vs. J.V. scrimmages, but there's always room for improvement.

Michael Wallace: Fiction. There's nothing really wrong with peaking and finding a dominant rhythm at this point. I can hear Herm Edwards' voice in my head right now: "You play ... to win ... the game." As long as the Heat don't get too complacent, though, they're fine.

Brian Windhorst: Fiction. The Heat should be concerned about staying healthy and having their players as fresh as possible for the postseason. A huge reason they have been playing so well recently is this is the healthiest the team has been since it was put together in 2010. You can't control injuries obviously but the Heat now know what their ceiling is when they're all together. Decisions should be made over the next two months, even if it means shutting a player down like they did with Wade earlier, to try to capture this in the playoffs.

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2. Fact or Fiction: Miami should be concerned about clutch execution.

Haberstroh: Fiction. It seems like forever ago that the Heat needed to buckle down in crunchtime, doesn't it? That's because it has been a while -- the last time the score was within five points in the final five minutes of the game was Feb. 5 against Toronto, over two weeks ago. The Heat are 9-4 in those games this season. If they see none of those close games until the playoffs, they should be concerned. But it's too early to press the panic button now.

Wallace: Fiction. Miami won't continue to blow everyone off the floor, so there will be some games along the way that test their execution down the stretch. But last time I checked, they had a pretty decent track record of finishing off opponents in those situations this season. We'll see if that remains the case come playoff time.

Windhorst: Fact. This is not their strong suit. Yes they have had some successes this season but it is still an area that's been a problem. They have the "closer" lineup they've been working on and that will be tested plenty more before the end of the season. This is probably the biggest impediment between them and the title.

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3. Fact or Fiction: The Heat don't have pressing concerns at this point.

Haberstroh: Fact. You could point to Chris Bosh's average of 13 points in February. You could point to the fact that the league's reigning 3-point champ is buried on the bench. You could point to Wade's sudden inability to make a shot outside 20 feet. But then you realize that every team would trade their problems for the Heat's "problems." In a second.

Wallace: Fact. They're relatively healthy. They're playing efficiently on offense and a dominant brand of defense in stretches. So in essence, there's no sign of trouble right now. By the way, that sound you hear is Pat Riley knocking on the hardwood at the Heat's arena.

Windhorst: Fiction. They're getting by with smoke and mirrors at center and Chris Bosh's production has plunged. Now, every team in the league would like to have the Heat's problems. But no team ever is concern-free.

Quick round-up from Monday's Heat practice:

• The Heat won another game by a wide margin on sunday and Tuesday's matchup against the Sacramento Kings isn't exactly a blockbuster matchup, so there wasn't a strong media presence at the Heat's practice on Monday. Some of the players watched the Thunder-Nuggets overtime epic late Sunday night. Dwyane Wade said "it was NBA at its finest." LeBron James gave a shot-out to all the fantasy owners out there. "If you had a fantasy league and you had those guys, then you won."

• LeBron delivered a zinger about not playing much at the end of games lately: "It's always fun when you get a close game. I'm getting tired of sitting out in the fourth quarter, personally. It's messing up my averages." The present media got a kick out of that one. Here's the real question: will the fans?


• And lastly, remember that Noah machine that Dwyane Wade used to improve his free throw shooting? It measures the angle of a player's shot arc and blurts out the degree angle from a black machine hanging on the wall. Wade used it a few weeks ago to correct his flat free throw shot and he's shooting a blistering 86 percent from the line since, including a personal-high 27 consecutive without missing. His goal is to get the arc high enough to elicit a "45" call-out from the machine. LeBron was using the Noah machine at Monday's practice while Dwyane Wade spoke to reporters. In the following clip, you can faintly hear the mechanical voice shouting out the degree angle from the black box on the yellow wall. (It's loudest at the 37 second mark when it says "46"). They love this machine.

Have you noticed it, too?

Dwyane Wade has been on an absolute tear recently. After an injury-riddled start to the season, Wade is now ranked as the second-most productive player by PER in the NBA behind -- you guessed it -- LeBron James.

But if you've been playing close attention to the Heat lately, you might have noticed that the Heat games are blowouts by halftime. Or at least the games are just about out of reach for the opponents. Since the Orlando loss on Feb. 8 here are the halftime leads for the Heat: +10, +22, +5, +29, +25, +12.

Leading this first-half dominance is Wade, the man who has been labeled as the team's so-called closer. Recently, a halftime ritual has developed for fans and sportswriters alike: laughing in amazement at Wade's stat-line. During the Heat's six-game win streak, Wade has averaged 18 points on a blistering 67 percent shooting in the first half alone.

Speaking after Sunday's drubbing of the Orlando Magic, Erik Spoelstra gave his evaluation on Wade's performances fresh out of the gate.

"We are not going to in trying to premeditate opportunities or attacks, just Dwyane [Wade] happened to be very aggressive early on in games," Spoelstra said. "There is a correlation; there is no secret."

Nope, no secret. If you plan on stopping Wade this season, you might have to wait until after halftime. Because after running the numbers, you'll see that Wade is an absolute monster out of the gate. And it's putting teams away early.

To illustrate his sheer dominance, I've called upon the handy PER (player efficiency rating) metric which is an all-in-one rating that measures a player's efficiency in the box score on a per-minute basis. The average NBA player, as a benchmark, will have a PER of 15. Wade has a PER of 27.4 on the season, good for second in the NBA. But look what happens when we split it up into first half and second half.

Wade's 1st-half PER: 36.3
Wade's 2nd-half PER:16.5

This is an astounding split. To put this in perspective, the difference between his first-half PER and second-half PER is minus-19.8. No one has come close to posting a difference of that magnitude this season. Only two players in the NBA (Luis Scola and Brendan Haywood) have posted a difference above minus-9 ... and Wade's at minus-19.8. He's in a world of his own.

If you're curious about his basic numbers on a per-game basis:

Wade's 1st-half line: 14.3 pts, 3.1 ast, 2.5 rebs, 16.7 mins on 56 percent shooting.
Wade's 2nd-half line: 7.7 pts, 1.5 ast, 1.8 rebs, 15.0 mins on 42 percent shooting.

Fans normally imagine Wade as a dominant force in crunchtime, but this season, it's been quite the opposite. If anything, he has been a something of a first-half closer, as if he's delivering a knockout punch in the early rounds of a boxing ring.

Some might look at the massive split and emphasize the drop-off part of the equation, which is fair and understandable. For the Heat, it is slightly unnerving to know that Wade has been just a tick above an average player after halftime. But in the first half? No one has been better. For reference, what are LeBron James' splits in the first and second half? 32.8 and 33.2. Like a metronome.

So how do we explain Wade's split? Recently, it might be a case of warming up and finding rhythm. If you've been following closely, you've noticed that Wade just hasn't even played much in the second half. In fact, Sunday night was only the second time in the last five games that Wade has played more than 10 of the 24 second-half minutes.

But this is something that's been going on all season for Wade. True, he's only played 23 games so the sample is on the small side. But this is a trend to keep an eye on. If you've noticed Wade's first-half dominance that leads to early blowouts, you are not the only one.

MIAMI - Heat guard Dwyane Wade is enjoying his most efficient stretch of play since his rookie season, and his team has the NBA's best record thanks to a six-game winning streak.

But if you think this current run is as good as it gets for Miami, Wade explains why you should think again, and why his team is fine with flying relatively under the Lin-sanity radar.

MIAMI - Apparently, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was so focused on his job Sunday that he didn't notice former President Bill Clinton sitting courtside for Miami's victory against the Orlando Magic.

Clinton, who was a guest of Heat owner Micky Arison, caught a ball that sailed out of bounds, was presented a No. 42 Heat jersey with his name and also received a standing ovation when he was shown on the giant screen above the court - all during the game.

Yet Spoelstra insists he was oblivious to it all, and didn't know Clinton was in the building until he spoke with the media after the game. Spoelstra's reaction drew laughter in the press room.

"I didn't know," Spoelstra said after the Heat's 90-78 victory. "Is he still here? Do I have a chance to shake his hand?"

Spoelstra's best line came immediately after, when said he was surprised Clinton chose to attend the Heat game instead of Sunday's earlier nationally televised game in New York between global media sensation Jeremy Lin's Knicks and the Dallas Mavericks.

In essence, Clinton had Heat fever instead of Linsanity. But the Knicks visit the Heat on Thursday for their final games before the All-Star break.

"I'm surprised he's not at one of the games up north, the earlier game," Spoelstra joked. "That seems to be the hot game right now."

MIAMI - Dwight Howard wore stylishly, sophisticated spectacles as he dressed and prepared to leave AmericanAirlines Arena on Sunday after the Orlando Magic had their four-game winning streak snapped.

This time around, the NBA's most dominant big man certainly lacked 20-20 vision against the Miami Heat. How did the Heat solve their biggest problem against Orlando?

Easy. They went small.

A week after carving through the Heat with 25 points and 24 rebounds in a home victory, Howard ran into a more rugged defensive effort Sunday and was relatively contained as Miami cruised to a 90-78 win. The Heat extended their winning streak to six consecutive games, all by a double-digit margin.

Miami improved the league's best record to 25-7 and hasn't lost a game since that 102-89 setback on Feb. 8 in Orlando. In that game, there were no answers for stopping either Howard's inside play or the Magic's shooters, who nailed 17 3-pointers on 42 attempts.

The Heat made some minor adjustments to tame Orlando's inside and outside threats this time. Howard was guarded by as many as five different defenders, and the Heat mixed single coverage with varying double-team efforts from different angles. Howard was limited to 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting, but finished with a game-high 15 rebounds.

Miami also held the Magic to a rather pedestrian 37.9-percent shooting on 3-pointers, with Orlando missing 18 of 29 attempts.

"What they did do well tonight was they clogged the paint up and forced me to pass the ball out," Howard said. "It was pretty good defense. They just played harder than us."

Sunday marked only the second time in the past 20 games that Howard attempted 10 or fewer shots. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said his strategy was to mix up the coverages on Howard, and Miami gambled by playing smaller but quicker defenders on him in key stretches of the game to obstruct passing lanes inside.

At times, that led to 6-foot-8 Udonis Haslem - who is undersized even at power forward - taking on the Howard assignment. LeBron James, at 6-foot-8 and 260 pounds, also had a shift or two against Howard. Orlando was unable to exploit the matchup as Howard, Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu combined for nine of the team's 15 turnovers.

Spoelstra acknowledged the Heat got away with a few risky moves.

"Our guys were committed, and much more disciplined in this game," Spoelstra said. "All of us were disappointed the last time we played them. We had so many breakdowns. We didn't really give ourselves a chance. Our activity level throughout (Sunday's) game was very good, very consistent."

It seems like years ago that the Heat got blasted by the Magic in Orlando, but it actually happened within the past two weeks. And the Heat, who have won by an average of 18.8 points over their last five games, remember it well.

Should the Heat care where Dwight Howard eventually takes his talents this season? Was the Feb. 8 loss a much-needed wake-up call for the Heat? Is it a surprise to see LeBron James and Dwyane Wade's league-leading productivity?

In another installment of Heat Index's 3-on-3 series, our writers give their takes on the story lines before the Heat (24-7) take on the (20-11) Magic.

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1. Fact or Fiction: Heat would rather see Dwight stay in Orlando?

Tom Haberstroh: Fact. The Magic haven't paired Howard with another star in years and the Heat should enjoy it while it lasts. It might come to an end at the trade deadline. Dealing with Howard is bad enough, but then worrying about Kobe, Deron, Derrick or Dirk, too? That's not an exciting scenario for Miami, even though they have three stars of their own.

Michael Wallace: Fiction. The farther west he goes, the better for the Heat. Still, it's not like Miami fears Dwight. The Heat have had a relatively good handle on Dwight for the most part. It's Orlando's shooters playing off of Howard who have given the Heat absolute fits.

Brian Windhorst: Fact. Howard is a monster to deal with and the Heat have problems at center. But they probably like their chances against the Magic in a seven-game series. If Howard goes to another contender, be it the Lakers, Mavericks or even Bulls they may not feel the same way.

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2. Fact or Fiction: The Orlando loss was a blessing in disguise.

Haberstroh: Fact. They might look back on that 13-point Feb. 8 loss in the same way they did the "Bumpgate" Mavericks loss in the last regular season. Sure, it could be just a random placemarker in the season, but it seems the Heat made real strides defensively after the downtown downpour in Orlando.

Wallace: Fiction. There are no moral victories or blessing-in-disguise losses for the Heat. Orlando was simply the best team the Heat played on the trip. A loss there isn't anything to be ashamed of. That said, best believe the Heat want to avenge last week's loss.

Windhorst: Fact. The Heat apparently had gotten a little out of focus after some home victories. Starting out on a long road trip, they didn't play that game with much intensity. Then they plowed through the next five opponents.

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3. Fact or Fiction: It's surprising that LeBron/Wade are 1-2 in PER.

Haberstroh: Fact. It seems like yesterday that the 30-year-old was a lock for a down season with nagging injuries, but it's time I learned not to doubt the ageless D-Wade. His minutes have been down due to a combination of blowouts and caution, but Wade is averaging a league-high 37.8 points per 48 minutes this month. And what a surprise, LeBron is second with 34.8 points. Stunning numbers.

Wallace: Fiction. They are two of the top five players in the league. They also traditionally are two high turnover guys. But what that 1-2 ranking in efficiency says to me is that Wade and LeBron are simply making the game that much easier for one another. They impact every possession when they're on the court together.

Windhorst: LeBron at been in the top three in PER for years but Wade is playing some fantastic basketball. It's remarkable how well they're shooting. The Heat have obviously had trouble getting these two to fit together. They've never been better together than last 3 weeks.

CLEVELAND - LeBron James does not come a la carte; when you get him you get the entire package. The Cleveland Cavaliers learned this quite well. The Miami Heat are figuring it out.

James had yet another fantastic all-around game Friday night, scoring 28 points with five rebounds and five assists in just 30 minutes. The Heat smacked the Cavs 111-87 for their fifth consecutive road blowout.

There have been hundreds of games just like this in James’ career. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said James is playing at an MVP level, as many of James’ coaches, and numerous opposing coaches, have said after such performances during his career.

Meanwhile, outside the lines, James had multiple fan bases cheering and cursing him at the same time, front office executives and team owners were wondering just what the heck he was thinking, and he was dominating the headlines.

This all included, at no extra charge, in the aforementioned James superstar bundle. None of it original or surprising. Let the record show that the Cavs were quite ready to sign up for five more years of it back in 2010. The Heat, and several others, knew that it came along with the 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists he averages, plus sellout crowds every night. Or at least they should’ve known.

If the Heat weren’t upset with James’ comments this week about playing again someday in Cleveland, which James simply said were “truthful,” they should have been. Plenty of their fans certainly were, to the point that James gave a series of homages to them Friday to try and soothe things over -- the last being his postgame interview with Heat television in which he listed a series of South Florida communities he was looking forward to getting back to after three days in Cleveland.

It was a little early on the standard schedule for James to start publicly flirting with free agency, two and a half years before he can become a free agent. But the Heat can’t seriously claim this was unexpected. Last time around he started about 20 months early, tossing some red meat to fans in New York during a now-infamous news conference at Madison Square Garden in 2008.

Some batting of the eyes convinced the Knicks to tear their roster to shreds at the prospect. Just about the time, not ironically, Pat Riley started plotting what eventually became what’s been called the greatest free agent maneuver in league history.

It was a coup for sure, a two-time MVP in the prime signing the longest contract of his career. It came with strings, though, and James has only just started tugging on them.

James’ talk about playing for the Cavs again and his hope that the fans would re-embrace him did not come with the timeline. Though plenty seemed to jump to the assumption he was talking about 2014, James did not say or even imply that.

It would be a mistake to believe that James already has a plan in place to bolt to another city, even his hometown, and complete an unforeseen if not poetic career arc. But it would also be a mistake to consider that this isn’t just the first of many times that James will hint, insinuate or flirt with the future as the Heat find themselves frustrated. Just like his tremendous scoring, defending and passing ability, this has been proven to be as a part of James’ personality.

James expanded on his answers about Cleveland over two days while the Heat were in the midst of playing their best string of regular season games since he signed up. He’s playing some of the best and most efficient ball of his career, Dwyane Wade is on an expanding hot streak as he’s shooting 56 percent over the last 10 games, Mario Chalmers is having the best season of his career, Shane Battier is out of his shooting slump and now sizzling, and Mike Miller has played 18 straight games without an injury. The Heat finished a road trip 5-1 with five straight wins by 15 or more points.

And James was talking about playing for the Cavs again someday.

Down the hall, James’ former team was hardly thrilled with his latest round of conjecture. James’ hinting about returning to Cleveland to play certainly lit up the talk show phone lines and dominated local newscasts for the last few days.

It was delicious fodder -- James always is because his ties to the area, his great but championship-less years with the team and the terms of his departure. For many Cavs fans the statements created a visceral reaction, churning up emotions that had recently finally started to ebb 20 months after his departure.

For the Cavs themselves, this was not good for business. Just as they couldn’t predict what would happen in 2010 when the rumblings started in 2008, they’ve learned it’s hard to rely on James’ words when he’s talking fast and loose about his future. They are starting something new with a new player they hope will replace James as their cornerstone in point guard Kyrie Irving.

The franchise already spent two years doing everything in its power to get James to sign with it, spending wildly and making poor short-term trades and hoping all of it would work out. The Cavs don’t need to be reminded it was a failed enterprise. They also aren’t planning on spending the next two years or three or four following that dream again.

Fully in the middle of getting on with their lives, James’ words were absolutely no help. They can’t and won’t say so to microphones but they feel much the same way as James does about the future and, in fact, have for some time. They’d never rule out a possible James return no matter what’s been said or done. It just won’t be dictating their lives.

Are these moments where James can destabilize hundred million dollar operations and send tens of thousands of fans into various fits with a few sentences worth it?

Friday the Heat looked amazing, reaffirming their position as title favorite as they improved to 82-30 since they signed James. The Cavs, looking young and still in the beginning stages of their post-James rebuild, are 30-80 without him.

The answer is self-evident.

Almost a year after his last visit to The Q for a regular-season game, LeBron James is back in Cleveland -- this time, under much different terms.

After being villainized by his home city for departing in free agency in 2010, LeBron has thawed things a bit, especially after saying that he wouldn't rule out playing for the Cavaliers again someday.

How much stock should we put into those comments? Our three-man weave tackles that and more heading into Friday night's showdown at 7:30 ET.


1. Fact or Fiction: LeBron should have avoided any talk of returning to the Cavs.

Tom Haberstroh: Fact. It's too early. No employer needs to hear plans of working elsewhere. The Heat definitely don't appreciate the "homecoming" talk a year and a half into the Heat project.

Brian Windhorst: Fact. LeBron has been sending signals he feels this way for a while now and it had already become a talking point in Cleveland. But talking about it so expansively now, when the Heat are rolling and his next free-agent decision is three summers away, is more destabilizing than anything.

Michael Wallace: Fiction. He has no reason to run from the discussion. But it would be nice if he had a bit more direction and purpose in addressing the situation. LeBron is human. He struggles with PR. But at the end of the day, considering Ohio is his home, he could have spun it to suggest he'd welcome a role with the organization at some point down the line, perhaps even a front-office-type role. His on-court focus, now and into the future, should be with Miami.

2. Fact or Fiction: The chances of a Cavs return have changed since LeBron's last visit.

Haberstroh: Fact. It seems like LeBron's sentiment was calculated, but you can't deny that he has mended some fences this season. It won't be open arms, but they won't be closed, either.

Windhorst: Fiction. A few things happened. One was LeBron spent months at home over the offseason. Two, while he was home he saw how the Cleveland fans welcomed former nemesis Jim Thome with open arms 10 years after he bolted town in free agency in his prime. Finally, the Cavs drafted Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson, two friends of James. But the chances of a return are still where we left them.

Wallace: Fiction. How could we seriously know? There were some who couldn't envision LeBron leaving Cleveland until he was already out of the door. I'm done predicting the future with these guys. We're not privy to their real agendas. I do know this: Zydrunas Ilgauskas quietly went back to the Cavs after some questioned his loyalty (on a much smaller scale) for following LeBron to Miami. So LeBron is right in one sense. Anything's possible.

3. Fact or Fiction: As long as Dan Gilbert is the owner, LeBron won't be welcomed back.

Haberstroh: Fiction. LeBron might be the most sensitive topic that has surfaced in Gilbert's professional career, but time heals all wounds. Gilbert is a business man, and the LeBron Return, if it ever happens, would be the biggest sports story in ages. Hard to walk away from that.

Windhorst: Fiction. They both had rough words for each other. They both deeply offended each other. They both have always been interested in taking advantage of situations and doing what's best for themselves. If that someday meant a remarriage, of course it would happen. But all of it is just a talking point, it's not close to reality.

Wallace: Fiction. I defer all things Gilbert and Cavaliers to Windhorst. He knows and has covered that organization under Gilbert as well as anyone. I do know Gilbert, first and foremost, is a businessman. And LeBron made him a fortune once when the forward was in a Cavs uniform. I'm sure he could swallow his pride in the name of more stacks of Benjamins if LeBron ever seriously has interest in a return.

If you're a LeBron James homer – some fans, select media members, flunkies, etc. – here's where you owe Kendrick Perkins a bit of an apology for summarily dismissing everything critical the grouchy Oklahoma City center had to say about Heat-Highness in the aftermath of Blake Dunk-gate.

And if you're a LeBron so-called hater – scorned Cavaliers fans, general "Decision" detractors, other select media members – now's as good a time as any for a slight reprieve, considering the attempted olive branch James apparently tried to extend Thursday in Cleveland.

The same LeBron, whom Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert once cast as Le-Benedict, publicly talked about patching things up with his former fan base and entertained the idea of possibly being a Cavalier again.

Yes, really.

“You can't predict the future,” James told reporters. “I'm here as a Miami player and I'm happy where I am now but I don't rule that out in any sense. If I decide to come back, hopefully the fans will accept me.”

LeBron, less than two years removed from tearing the town apart with his messy departure, is on the right path to seek forgiveness on some levels for the way he left. He should be commended for taking that step in his other comments Thursday when he admitted that he, too, made a mistake, as did Gilbert, in their actions before and after the decision was made.

But this deal about LeBron seeking acceptance down the line is simply sad.

Yet again, LeBron has put folks in a position where they don't know which way to turn. All they know is that someone stuck a microphone in his face after the Heat's practice in preparation for Friday's game against his former team. LeBron took the inquiry, spun and turned up court with a full head of steam. He then revved up that massive frame to release another highlight.

Only this time, it wasn't a dunk. It was a set of interesting, unbelievable and disturbingly revealing comments that border on both innocent sincerity and a complete lack of self awareness. This was the basketball equivalent of rejecting Dwight Howard at the rim on one end, and seconds later blowing an uncontested dunk on the other.

Part patronizing, part putrid. Completely baffling. And it probably won't be long before LeBron wishes we were John Lucas III, that his latest mind-boggling move would have gone clearly over our heads.

But it didn't.

Perkins clearly went too far, got too personal and seemed too childish when he ripped LeBron the other week for tweeting the delight he, along with the rest of the NBA, took in that dunk Clippers forward Blake Griffin unleashed in Perkins' face. But the mostly misguided Perkins was dead-on accurate when he suggested LeBron is a bit of a tortured soul desperate to be liked.

As well-intentioned as LeBron was for saying what he said Thursday, the only thing he accomplished was showing that he hasn't really come all that far from the way he handled his decision to leave Cleveland as a free agent in 2010 to sign with the Heat.

That's the only reasonable rationale I can see for LeBron saying that he wouldn't rule out one day returning to play again for the franchise that drafted him, and gave him complete run of the city. He returned the love by drastically inflating the value of Gilbert's franchise and leading the Cavaliers to the cusp of championship contention.

To ask whether fans in Cleveland would accept him back is a rhetorical question. Of course they would. As the song goes, it's a thin line between love and hate. And there's no TSA-type security checkpoint at the border of those emotions that allows you to gather yourself and come to your senses before crossing from one side to the other.

But this is more about wishing LeBron would know better after all of this time, all of these public relations stumbles. He should see a Cavaliers franchise that's just starting to regain its balance and feel-good footing with No. 1 pick Kyrie Irving as the clear face of the future. LeBron should know that interjecting himself into any aspect of that future – even the possibility – is borderline disrespectful to both the franchise his decision left in shambles as well as to his current employer, to which he's promised to deliver multiple cases of championship champagne.

Defenders of LeBron will say that it's OK to want to come home, that a large part of you should always long for a hero's return to the place that made you. But not many of us walk out of our own front doors, turn back to publicly trash the lawn and then bail. Granted, LeBron had every right to leave as a free agent who had given eight years to the Cavaliers. But while he was there, he had enough respect for the franchise not to talk about one day playing for another team.

“There's some things I'd want to take back as well,” James said of the venom that spewed between him and Gilbert two summers ago on the way out. “You learn from your mistakes and you move on.”

That's precisely where LeBron should take his own advice and … well, move on.

He shouldn't even be talking about any future that doesn't first include winning a title or two in Miami within the remaining two guaranteed seasons after this on his contract. I realize he was trying to be kind on Tuesday, but he needs to be more clever.

As Big Worm's character in the movie "Friday" would say, there's principalities in this. Heat president Pat Riley would never come out and say it or even show any sign of it, but Thursday's talk can't be sitting well.

LeBron is having the most efficient season of any player in NBA history, the Heat are playing their best ball since James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh came together and there's no reason to believe Miami isn't on course to finish the job and win a title after falling short in last season's Finals.

But, even though he had good intentions, LeBron made his first bad move in a long while. If he's privately longing for Cleveland – or one day believes he might – give the Heat a heads-up so they could trade him. If not, don't patronize the public.

If Riley ever let word slip that he'd consider trading the two-time MVP to Orlando for Dwight Howard, how do you think LeBron would take it? My guess is he'd go Perkins on someone, whether he's justified or not.

From my view, LeBron is one of the most gifted athletes as well as one of the nicest yet misunderstood guys I've ever seen in sports. Sometimes, I get the sense that he'd trade it all in for the chance to be loved.

For now, LeBron remains a pure beast on the court who has the basketball gifts of a god. Every once in a while, like Thursday, they're overshadowed by the fact he sometimes has the public relations skills of a gremlin.

He should know that he's got a much better chance to win those five, six, seven championships in Miami than he'll ever have at trying to make everybody happy.

The Heat are off to their best start in franchise history at 23-7, essentially tied with the Chicago Bulls for the best record in the East and are playing perhaps their best basketball since LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh came together.

Allow me to explain exactly why.

LeBron James joined NBA TV's "Fan Night" show following another lopsided win over the Indiana Pacers. With a set of headphones strangely pinning a towel over his head, LeBron fielded some questions about the Heat's performance on the back-to-back-to-back, their suffocating defense, Linsanity ... blah, blah, blah.

After a few minutes dancing around a most pressing issue, host Ernie Johnson finally cut to the chase (seen at the 4:18 mark) and asked LeBron the question on everyone's mind:

Are you thinking about shaving your head -- or as smooth-noggin'd Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal have dubbed it 'coming home'?

LeBron, who was obviously having some fun getting in on the joke, ripped the towel off his head, proudly pulling the veil to show his hairline in all its receding glory. He then gave his response to whether he was thinking about succumbing to the bald look like Shaq and Charles eventually did.

"Absolutely not," LeBron laughed. "'Come on home' is for Shaq, it's for Kenny, it's for Charles ... those three bald-headed stooges in studio."

Laughs all around.

"We're saving that for the three stooges. They're mad because you got more hair than them too, Ernie so don't get involved in that," LeBron joked.

"You know what, LeBron, I have a feeling I'll be coming home before you do," Johnson said.

LeBron just about lost it after that comment.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The taxi rolled into the loading dock at Bankers Life Fieldhouse around 3 p.m. ET, four hours before the Miami Heat were scheduled to tip off with the Indiana Pacers. It was a short fare for the driver, just a few blocks from the team hotel, but probably his most memorable customer of the week.

LeBron James and one of the team’s trainers stepped out and walked through an empty building to an empty locker room. When the “early” Heat bus arrived at the arena, the one that transports coaches and young players who aren’t likely to play often, James was already in uniform on the floor.

It’s not unheard of for an NBA player to get to an arena early, even on the road. It’s not rare for players to look for time to squeeze in extra shooting work, even established veterans. But this was quite unusual and unexpected.

The Heat were about to play their third game in as many nights, all on the road. James was less than 24 hours removed from one of the best shooting nights of his life, when he went 16-of-21 up in Milwaukee. Taking the late bus to the arena and getting a pregame massage would have been acceptable and assumable.

Then he went out and scored 23 points with nine rebounds, seven assists and four steals in just 33 minutes. He logged so few minutes because the Heat blew out the Pacers, 105-90. The lead was 35 points when James went to the bench for good.

His night had started, and ended, early.

“It’s all about leadership,” James said. “We weren’t going to use tonight as an excuse or a crutch, knowing that we had a back-to-back-to-back. My mindset was to get here early and prepare.”

There was some grumbling last week when some Heat players looked at the schedule and discovered they’d be playing their fourth game in five nights in Indiana while the Pacers would be coming off two nights of rest.

If the NBA were a utopia, every team would get max effort every night. Obviously it isn’t, and all the time during the winter months there are examples of teams short on rest dogging games, especially on the road. Days in advance, the Heat already had an acceptable excuse lined up.

But at the team’s meeting Tuesday morning, coach Erik Spoelstra told his crew they had a chance to be the first since 1979 to win games on the road three straight nights. Of course, that’s a circumstantial stat -- teams don’t play three nights in a row anymore unless there’s a lockout-shortened season. Nonetheless, it was something that wasn’t done in the lifetime of any of the team’s players except for Juwan Howard and Shane Battier.

That tidbit, though, seemed to pique the interest of players, especially an NBA history buff like James. He certainly acted like he cared about it.

“That showed his commitment and leadership and his knowledge of history,” Spoelstra said. “He knew we could do something special as a team.”

In the end, the third straight blowout victory stretched the history even further. They became the first team since the Lew Alcindor and Oscar Robertson-led 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks to win road games on three straight nights by double figures.

The Pacers, who already had a 30-point loss to the Heat this season on the ledger, did not put up much of a fight and now have four-game losing streak. Neither Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh, who combined for 30 points and 13 rebounds, were required to put in more than 26 minutes.

The only drama, it turned out, came in the last few minutes. There was lots of screaming and calls for security. Not for when Howard was ejected after he developed a late-game vendetta against the Pacers’ Lance Stephenson.

It was for James and Wade as they scanned the crowd to decide who to give their shoes to. James spotted a young girl five sections away from the Heat bench who was waving a sign that read “LeBron, be my Valentine” and had security guards bring her to the court.

“That was special,” James said. “I saw her cheering and jumping up and down.”