Star trio sees their stats drop as Heat's win total climbs

MIAMI (AP) -- For $327 million this summer, the Miami Heat got three players whose statistics are plummeting.

The Heat are thrilled by that development.

When Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh decided to team up in Miami, each quickly said individual numbers would be irrelevant - the first time in any of their basketball lives they could have that luxury. And after winning four straight, the last three by at least 23 points, the less-is-more approach is working wonders for the Heat.

"I had too many close games last year,'' Wade said after Tuesday's 129-97 win over Minnesota. "I appreciate these.''

Through five games, Wade's scoring is down 23 percent from his early pace last season. James has gone four games without scoring more than 20 points for the first time since December 2003, and the Heat have nonetheless won all those contests. Bosh's numbers are well off his career scoring and rebounding averages.

In past years, these would represent big problems.

These days, the 'Big 3' say those are all great signs.

"I don't care about numbers,'' Bosh said. "The only number I care about is winning. You can have great games, you can have great numbers and be at the bottom of the totem pole as far as the league is concerned. I think I can speak for that, too. I've experienced it. You can do everything you want, you can average the best numbers, but if you don't win it really doesn't matter.''

The Heat are off until visiting New Orleans on Friday.

Miami's victory over Minnesota was so one-sided that James didn't get his second field goal until the third quarter, and by then the Heat had already put 77 points on the scoreboard. The Heat became the first team since Detroit early in the 2007-08 season to win three straight games by such a large margin.

True, the combined record of the four teams Miami has defeated so far - New Jersey, Orlando, Philadelphia and Minnesota - was just 4-9 entering Wednesday night's games. Which might be why Heat coach Erik Spoelstra walked off the court at the final buzzer Tuesday already thinking up ways for his team to get better.

"That's the sickness of head coaching in this business. It really is,'' Spoelstra said. "Because immediately, what I'm thinking after the game is we have to stay sharp. Are we building the right mental toughness in these games? We'll take these games whenever you can get them. Obviously, you want to play efficient, productive basketball.''

He can't question either of those two counts.

One of the many reasons why the Heat stars are seeing their stat totals dip is because they're simply not on the court long enough to pile up numbers. In fourth quarters this season, out of a possible 60 minutes of playing time, Wade has logged 24, James 25 and Bosh 27 - and of those 76 combined minutes, 30 came in the season-opening loss to Boston.

"We love being out on the court and if we could, we'd play 48 minutes, all three of us, the whole game,'' said James, who had 12 assists Tuesday night, the most ever by a Heat forward in the franchise's 23-year history. "But we know what's best for the team. And while we're out on the court, we just try to do it all.''

Wade is averaging 22.4 points, nearly eight points less than his league-best clip from two seasons ago. James is averaging 20.4 points, which would be a career-low. Bosh's 13.0-per-game pace is 11 points shy of his average last year.

Regardless, the system is working. Ask any of their last four opponents.

"Those guys are starting to click a little bit,'' said Minnesota forward Anthony Tolliver. "I know it's early, but they are starting to figure each other out.''

Not just that, but the Heat are proving, once again, that stat sheets hardly ever tell the entire story.

Wade and James are both former NBA scoring champions; they entered Wednesday ranked 15th and 24th respectively in that department this season. Bosh has a total of five offensive rebounds through five games; he had 12 games last season alone where he grabbed that many. Mike Miller is out until January with a broken thumb and ligament damage, and starting center Joel Anthony is the NBA's only player so far with more than 100 minutes (102) and less than 18 points (seven).

And they're flying out of the gate anyway.

"We have a goal,'' James said. "We have a high goal. Our long-term goal is, of course, to bring another gold ball to this franchise. There's going to be times where we got better one night and we still lose. But we won't be satisfied if we leave a game saying we could have done things better.''