Miami Heat: Mario Chalmers Is the Fourth Musketeer

The knock on the Heat has always been that they don't have the depth to win a championship.  That beyond the "Three Musketeers" there was simply not enough talent.  However, there might be a fourth musketeer in the rotation, and that may be the recipe for success.

When the Heat were originally put together last year, many people made a comparison to the Boston Celtics and the success that Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen have had.  However, what that comparison failed to take into consideration was that the Celtics also had a very good young point guard who was just developing.

Rajon Rondo was a key to the Celtics' success in the past and now that the rest of the team is getting older he is becoming even more valuable, just like Mario Chalmers.  Chalmers has always played a role on a team that was filled with superstars.

But on Thursday night with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade sidelined by injuries, Chalmers stepped up and looked like a superstar in his own right. With the game winding down, Chalmers stepped up.  In the fourth quarter and the three overtimes, Chalmers scored 20 of the 48 points that the Heat scored.

Chris Bosh carried the team through the first three quarters on his own and looked like the superstar the Miami had always hoped that he would be.  But, as was often the case in Toronto, he needed help to get his team over the hump. 

This time, Chalmers stepped up and played a very strong Robin to his Batman.  Batman kicked the hell out of of the Penguin, but in the end, Robin had to come bail him out.

That's not who the Heat normally see as Batman or Robin, but that may be the most encouraging thing about this victory. 

It could be an aberration in a season that once again slips away from the Heat, or it could be a meaningful turning point, where the team becomes less of a debate about who is Batman and who is Robin and more about who is taking their turn to step up tonight.

Even in a shortened season, you have to let the season play out, but this could have been a meaningful turning point for the Heat.  If it is a turning point for them this season, it could be a turning point for the next couple of years and thus a turning point for the NBA. 

That is asking a lot of any one game and is projecting a lot of things that could not possibly be known at this point, but the potential is visible.