Miller, Haslem represent Heat's foiled plans

The plan seemed perfect.

LeBron James had agreed to take his talents to South Beach. He would join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to form a Big Three that most believed would shepherd in an instant dynasty.

All three took less money to play together and, yes, there were other details to be attended to — other players signed, other men who would make up the Miami Heat's sure-thing squad.

But those things seemed incidental. Going into this season, long before these playoffs began, the Heat's ascendance seemed sure.

Still, head coach Erik Spoelstra kept saying, "We knew this wasn't going to be easy." How true.

Seventy-two wins. Multiple championships. An unstoppable machine. The Chosen One averaging triple-doubles. The wins coming sure and easy. That's what was expected.

Fast forward to this past Sunday. Many months, an 82-game regular season and a 3-1 opening-round playoff series lead later, the Heat have experienced the fact that all perfect plans can go wrong.

There is no perfect crime. And there is no perfect sports team.

Two men, the evidence of this, sat on the bench Sunday as the Philadelphia 76ers stormed back from six down with 94 seconds to play to send the series back to Miami.

Udonis Haslem, inactive but with the team, was the first reminder. Mike Miller, at the moment not a player Spoelstra will turn to, was the second.

The Heat have had their struggles. But it's these two guys, players that few thought would dictate the team's success or failure, who have arguably had the most impact on this season.

Last summer, with little salary cap space remaining, Heat architect and team president Pat Riley pulled off a quieter but equally impressive coup.

He signed hometown guy Haslem to a five-year, $20.3 million contract. He signed Mike Miller to a five-year, $29 million deal. Both players reportedly spurned more money to be members of the Heat.

So Miami locked up its fourth and fifth options until 2015, enhancements to the Big Three who would make the playing field even more unfair.

Haslem would supply the heart, interior toughness, rebounding and grit the Big Three could use around them. And Miller would drop 3-pointers from the open space the Big Three would create, throwing in his size and ball-handling skills for good measure.

A Big Three. A solid and trustworthy Accompanying Two. And a group of veterans to fill the void. Riley had outdone himself.

Then reality hit. On Nov. 22, with the Heat still trying to find themselves as a team, Haslem left a game against the Indiana Pacers with a foot injury. He has not played since.

The Heat have desperately missed his defensive sturdiness, his underrated offense and, most notably, his rebounding presence. The absence of his toughness and unflappable approach also has been keenly felt.

Then there's Miller, who has been hobbled by injuries but right now simply is banished to the bench. He played less than three minutes in the Heat's first playoff game. Slightly more than three minutes in the second. And he did not play at all in Games 3 and 4 — the culmination of an awful year for the affable, talented swingman.

Miller's 3-point shooting has dropped from 48 percent last year to 36 percent this season. He's scoring 5.6 per game compared to a career average of 13.2.

But mostly he's looked off: tentative, awkward, not ready for the grueling games the Heat face night in and night out. Perhaps it's his thumb. Perhaps it's the concussions. Perhaps it's something else.

Regardless, this wasn't part of the plan. Both guys were supposed to perfectly complement the Big Three.

Instead, the Heat are getting by on the perimeter with guys like Mike Bibby, James Jones and Eddie House. Inside, Zydrunas Ilgauskas has done what he can, and Joel Anthony has provided a spark on defense and an energy boost on both sides of the court.

But overall, Miami has had a glaringly soft and mostly uninspired supporting cast. To see Haslem and Miller on the bench, for different reasons, is to remember how this was supposed to go: much more easily.

Nonetheless, barring a historic collapse, the Heat will face a rejuvenated Boston Celtics team out for blood. But Miami will be ready, too. The Heat have played their best basketball of late and should give Boston everything it can handle.

Minus a healthy Haslem and a viable Miller, Miami's task is going to be that much harder. But not necessarily impossible.

The perfect plan has been flawed by fate and circumstance. What remains to be seen is whether what Riley conceived last summer can, even with its unforeseen problems, be enough to live up to all its hype.

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