Heat get temporary relief with 105-82 rout of Bobcats - Chicago Tribune

MIAMIâ€"

This one delivered perspective.

As bad as the Miami Heat felt leaving Chicago after Thursday's overtime loss to the Bulls, Friday night offered a clear example that it could be worse, far worse:

They could be where the Charlotte Bobcats stand.

Against a 7-51 opponent that likely will not reach double-digits in victories, the Heat rested their weary and wounded and still had more than enough for a requisite 105-82 victory at AmericanAirlines Arena.

No, this did nothing to remove the sting of Thursday or the reality that the No. 2 Eastern Conference playoff seed will be as good as it gets.

But it did make it easier for coach Erik Spoelstra to give the night off to Dwyane Wade, Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem and Ronny Turiaf.

Those four are expected back for Sunday's game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, when the Heat can resume their quest for a meaningful road victory.

On Friday, it had all the feel of a preseason game, with Wade and Miller in uniform but spending the night as mere spectators, each listed as being out with a sore ankle. For Haslem the misery was more palatable, a stomach virus that also had him out for Thursday's second half. Turiaf sat with a nagging hamstring.

With LeBron James and Chris Bosh available, it didn't matter what else the Heat threw out there. With each playing measured minutes, James closed with 19 points and nine rebounds in 29 minutes, Bosh with 18 and seven in 30.

That left plenty of time for the likes of James Jones and Joel Anthony, who filled in as starters, as well as the likes of Norris Cole, Terrel Harris, Dexter Pittman, Juwan Howard and Eddy Curry, players who figure to go back into hibernation when the level of competition returns to NBA level.

Pittman turned it into a career night, with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting. His previous career high had been 10. Then again, against the Bobcats, any center can be a star, with Anthony finishing with 10 points and five rebounds.

With the victory, the Heat improved to 11-1 in Wade's absence this season.

With the Bobcats bungling dunks, enduring backcourt violations and relying on Derrick Brown for offensive punch, this one required respect commensurate to the quality of lineups Spoelstra rolled out.

It reached the point where the Bobcats in the third quarter distributed a medical update that read, "D.J. White, headache, will not return." You could hardly blame the kid.

If anything, this was a Heat team that needed an exhale, having gone 5-6 in their previous 11 and dropping two of their previous three home games.

Spoelstra entered the night speaking of resilience, perseverance, bounce-back fortitude. But this was a night for none of those, what with the Bobcats arriving with bona fide injuries, Corey Maggette, Tyrus Thomas and Eduardo Najera all sidelined.

"We have a resilient group and we were all very angry about [Thursday] night, in the moment, and that's the way it should be," Spoelstra said going into the game. "If you don't feel the pain of a game like [Thursday] night, which we had a locker room full of a lot of pain, if you don't have that, you're not going to be able to go where you want to go. So, everybody felt it and today all it's about is getting up. We have to get up, collectively, bounce back. And that's what this league is all about."

Of course, the league also is about teams playing out the string, something the Heat will get plenty of the balance of this season, with the likes of the New Jersey Nets, Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards (twice) dotting the remaining schedule.

iwinderman@tribune.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat