Heat Breakdown: The Decline of Shaquille O'Neal

oronto and Chicago come to mind.

The only good news?

As Dwyane Wade returns from injury, the Heat offense should be crisper off the ball, allowing Shaq to be more successful in finding teammates—and allowing him to operate against fewer double teams as opponents focus on Wade.

So how did the Heat steal a road win in New York?

Udonis Haslem was beastly around both baskets, and kept the Heat in the game with his screens, his defense, and his midrange jumpers. He played super glue defense on David Lee, brought non-stop hustle, and kept Miami alive during drive spells purely because of his energy.

Most importantly, in the final three minutes, Haslem tipped in a basket on an offensive rebound and turned a loose ball into a dunk. He also made two outstanding defensive plays, rotating and forcing a Stephon Marbury turnover and poking away a pass to Eddy Curry with only 10 seconds in the game.

Jason Williams was effective all game off high screens targeting Eddy Curry. He was also Miami's only consistent shooting threat—and hit the game-winning jumper from the left baseline with 19 seconds left.

Beyond Haslem and Williams, the Heat won because...

- Penny Hardaway played the best help defense he’s played in his entire career.

- Hardaway’s unselfish instincts allowed him to notch six assists.

- Despite missing seven out of his nine jumpers...despite giving up on every screen he ran into...despite having all his baskets come as a result of one-on-one breakdowns...Ricky Davis made a handful of offensive plays when the Heat offense was mired in quicksand—and played lock-down defense on Jamal Crawford in the fourth quarter.

- Alonzo Mourning’s screen defense was exceptional, especially over the last few minutes.

- The Heat defensive rotations (minus those of Shaq and Davis) were timely and well executed.

So what will the Heat need to do to sustain any kind of future success?

For starters, they desperately need a creative guard scorer.

Davis was a bust for the first three quarters, and Hardaway has no juice left in his legs. Chris Quinn is a scrub, and the only unselfish pass Smush Parker made was a fast break jump pass to Quentin Richardson.

In a perfect world, none of those guards would play for winning teams. Parker and Davis will lose more games than they’ll win, and Hardaway and Quinn can’t do anything right now.

But given how limited the Heat roster is, Hardaway should be kept as a fourth guard, Quinn should be banished to the Developmental League, and two among Davis, Parker, and Dorell Wright should be traded for some kind of dependable guard scorer.

Maybe one of the Rockets leftover point guards would suffice for Davis and Wright? Maybe Luke Ridnour or Earl Watson can be pried out of Seattle?

Barring any significant roster surgery, only Dwyane Wade’s consistent brilliance can propel the Heat to a low-seeded playoff berth.

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