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Heat clinch home-court advantage for entire 2013 NBA playoffs

All the Miami Heat did was set a franchise single-season record for wins with four games left to play, clinch the top overall spot in the NBA and secure home-court advantage for the entirety of the playoffs.

No big deal.

No wild celebration was merited. No celebration at all, really. Just business as usual for the Heat, whose lone goal isn’t being the best team in April – but rather, being the best team in June. Miami wrapped up the No. 1 overall seed with a 103-98 win in Washington on Wednesday, a game where the Heat played without LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem, all sidelined by minor injuries or illness.

”We’ve had an amazing year,” Heat forward Shane Battier told reporters in Washington. ”We’ve set a lot of records and we’ve had a lot of story lines the whole year. Hopefully our best story line is still ahead of us. That’s what we’re saving the high-fives for.”

It was Miami’s 62nd win, one more than the Heat club of 1996-97 managed.

And now what has seemed inevitable for the last couple weeks – Miami finishing the regular season atop the league – has become reality.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Dwyane Wade remains out for Heat

Dwyane Wade will not play Tuesday night when the Miami Heat host to the Milwaukee Bucks, the fifth straight game the All-Star guard will miss while dealing with ankle and knee soreness.

Wade was able to participate in the team’s morning shootaround practice Tuesday. He remains listed as day-to-day and will be evaluated again Wednesday.

Heat center Chris Bosh missed the morning practice because he wasn’t feeling well.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Dwyane Wade not rushing back for Heat

Wade said he wants to get back on the court before the playoffs begin. He just isn’t sure when, but has no plans of rushing it.

Wade has missed the past four games because of ankle and knee soreness, with the knee being the bigger of the concerns.

“I don’t know,” Wade said when asked about his return. “I’m just trying to make sure I’m healthy. The most important thing is to be healthy. When I feel it, I’ll get back on the court. Obviously, I want to play but I just got to make sure that I’m right.”

Wade said he has no problem taking a few games off because the Heat have earned it by already securing the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

“A lot of people think the Heat are just resting,” Wade said. “We played a lot of games this year. We had guys banged up at certain times and different elements. We’ve got to get them healthy, just like other teams have done. It just so happens that we’ve been able to do it at the end of the year. We took care of business and we were able to say, `Ok, we have these injures, let’s try to take care of them.”‘

— Reported by Shandel Richardson of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Dwyane Wade remains out to nurse injuries

Dwyane Wade might be missing games for reasons other than the Heat’s “maintenance program.”

Before Saturday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Wade has had prolonged swelling in his right knee. Wade rested for his fourth consecutive game Saturday while LeBron James returned to action.

“He has to resolve the swelling right now from getting hit in the knee,” Spoelstra said “That is the issue. His body will tell us when we play him.”

Wade last played against the New Orleans Hornets on March 29. According to Spoelstra, Wade was “beat up” in that game and banged his right knee going to the ground.

The injury apparently has lingered. Wade also has had problems with his right ankle this season.

— Reported by Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald

Coach Doc Rivers hopes Celtics avoid Heat in playoffs

Does he pay attention to the standings?

“I do but I don’t,” Rivers said in his best hedging language. “I really don’t. I know we’re in the seventh spot. I know we want to stay out of the eighth spot.

So, Rivers is actually admitting he wants avoid the Heat?

“Of course we would,” Rivers admitted when asked that very question. “But if we play them, we’ll be ready. But of course we would. Listen, I’m not that dumb. I’m not the brightest guy but come on. Really, you would love to avoid anyone [like Miami]. Listen, no matter who we play, we’re going to play a tough team. It’s going to be New York, Indiana or Miami. There’s no cakewalk for us. It’s going to be hard.”

To Rivers point, the Celtics are 1-3 this year against New York, 1-2 against Miami and 2-0 against Indiana. The Celtics play the Heat next weekend in Miami and the Pacers at the Garden on April 16.

— Reported by Mike Petraglia of WEEI

Miami home of Chris Bosh burglarized

Miami Heat player Chris Bosh and his wife returned home from his lavish 29th birthday party to find they had been robbed of $340,000 worth of watches, rings and purses, Miami Beach Police said Thursday.

Police said they got the call about the burglary at 12:30 a.m. Bosh and his wife had left their two children at home with two housekeepers as they celebrated his birthday at Briza on the Bay on Bayshore Drive in Miami. The Moroccan themed party included belly dancers and fire breathers. And a camel named Henri greeted guests. The festivities started at 9 p.m.

When the Boshes got home they realized their closet had been ransacked, police said. No one who was home heard anything, and apparently the thieves handpicked the items they were stealing, police said.

— Reported by NBC Miami

Carmelo Anthony scores 50 points on banged-up Heat

On this night, LeBron James couldn’t touch Carmelo Anthony — and Melo should thank Miami president Pat Riley for it.

With James and Dwyane Wade sitting out Tuesday night’s showdown with “minor’’ ailments, Anthony put on a South Beach show with 50 points in 40 minutes.

Anthony carried the Knicks to a 102-90 victory at AmericanAirlines Arena for their ninth straight victory — their longest winning streak since 1993-94.

Anthony had 42 points after three quarters but needed a 19-footer with 16.9 seconds to reach the magical 50 that tied his career high. James had a great view from the bench — as Anthony sank 18 of 26 baskets, made 7 of 10 3-pointers and 7 of 8 free throws.

How’d it look, LeBron?

“He was unbelievable,’’ coach Mike Woodson said. “He refused to let us lose tonight. He wasn’t forcing anything. Some things come easy for a great player and tonight he did everything he was supposed to do to put us in position to win.’’

— Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post

J.R. Smith scored 14 and Raymond Felton added 10 for New York.

Chris Bosh scored 23 points for Miami, which beat San Antonio on Sunday without James, Wade and Chalmers, but managed only 32 second-half points against the Knicks. Mike Miller scored 18, Ray Allen finished with 16 and Norris Cole had 14 for the Heat, whose 17-game home winning streak was snapped.

The Knicks beat the Heat in three of their four regular-season matchups. They likely would not meet again before the Eastern Conference finals.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Chris Bosh 3-pointer lifts short-handed Heat past Spurs

Often the forgotten member of Miami’s ”Big Three,” Chris Bosh stepped up with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade sitting out to get the Heat a big win and move closer to securing home-court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs.

Bosh scored 23 points, including the winning 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining, and the Heat beat San Antonio 88-86 on Sunday night with James, Wade and Mario Chalmers watching from the locker room as they sat out with injuries.

”We are the defending champs no matter who we put out there,” Bosh said. ”We are still the Miami Heat. We believe in ourselves. Each one of these guys is a professional. We played bigger roles in other cities but we came together and accepted lesser roles to win a championship here. We can still tap into that.”

Ray Allen added 14 points, Norris Cole had 13 and Mike Miller 12 for Miami (58-15), which swept the season series with San Antonio (55-18). By earning the head-to-head tiebreaker with San Antonio, the Heat have a four-game cushion with nine remaining for the league’s best record…

Miami beat San Antonio 105-100 on Nov. 29 when the Spurs opted to rest Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green.

All but Ginobili (strained right hamstring) played Sunday.

Duncan had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Kawhi Leonard added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs, who had a seven-game home winning streak snapped. Green and Parker added 12 points apiece and Stephen Jackson had 11.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Pat Riley says Danny Ainge should shut up about LeBron

Miami Heat President Pat Riley has added another chapter to his rivalry with the Boston Celtics.

After LeBron James complained about calls and Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge chided him for it, Riley lashed back Friday night.

Riley’s response: “Danny Ainge needs to shut the (expletive) up and manage his own team.”

This saga started Wednesday after Miami’s 27-game winning streak ended in Chicago. James told reporters that night that he does not believe some of the hard fouls he takes are “basketball plays.” A day later, Ainge told Boston radio station WEEI that “it’s almost embarrassing that LeBron would complain about officiating.”

Riley was clearly irked, calling Ainge “the biggest whiner going when he was a player.”

— Reported by the Associated Press

According to Ethan J. Skolnick of the Palm Beach Post, “After Donovan relayed Riley’s quotes to the media Friday evening, coach Erik Spoelstra was asked to speak on them. “I love direct GM-to-GM communication,” he said, smiling. “It’s awesome.” Ray Allen, who played for the Celtics the past five seasons, also smiled when the quotes were read to him. “That’s between Danny and Pat,” Allen said. “They obviously have a lot of history.” James does not hold a structured press availability prior to games, but when Riley’s just-released statement was mentioned to him — as he got stretched on the floor and scrolled through Twitter — he referred to it as “awesome.” When told of the statement, a couple of his teammates also heartily approved. Heat players have frequently expressed amusement that representatives of other teams — whether players, coaches or executives — tend to talk so much about them. They are especially amused by the Celtics’ chatter about them, whether it’s coming from Jason Terry or Paul Pierce or whomever; one Heat player referred to it as an “obsession.”

Miami Heat winning streak ends at 27 games after loss to Bulls

With two-tenths of a second left, LeBron James took the final inbounds pass in his own end, dropped the ball to let time expire, turned and walked toward the exit.

No buzzer beater.

No fourth-quarter rally.

No record for James and the Miami Heat, either.

The Heat’s bid for NBA history ended Wednesday night when their 27-game winning streak was snapped by the Chicago Bulls 101-97, setting off a raucous celebration inside United Center.

Miami finished six shy of the 33-game record held by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers.

James said there was no shame in falling short.

”It’s one of the best that this league has ever seen,” James said, referring to the streak that began on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 3. ”We recognized that and rightfully so.”

James tried to spur yet another comeback in the final minutes, getting mad after a rough foul. But the reigning MVP could never get the defending champions even or, more importantly, ahead.

Luol Deng scored 28 points, Carlos Boozer added 21 points and 17 rebounds, and the Bulls brought the Heat’s stampede to a screeching halt.

— Reported by Andrew Seligman of the Associated Press