"Obviously, we'll have to play the game a lot better than we played it here in Dallas," a frustrated Riley said after his team's 99-85 defeat by the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night.

The Mavericks' triumph in Game Two could have been a lot worse. Dallas was cruising with a 27-point advantage in the third quarter before Miami made the score respectable.

"Definitely, whatever adjustments we make over the next couple of days are going to have to work," said Riley. "So we're going home. There's no guarantee that that's going to make a difference."

Unless the Heat find a way to get center Shaquille O'Neal more involved in the game, there appears to be little chance it can rally and make this a competitive series.

The five-point effort by the 14-times All-Star was his lowest in 190 career playoff games. Perhaps more alarming to the Heat is that he only took five shots.

Dallas has two, sometimes three defenders harassing O'Neal whether he has the ball or not. O'Neal has been kicking the ball out to the perimeter but that is not how Miami plays.

Riley vowed to get O'Neal the ball more after the series opening 90-80 loss in which the NBA's best center took only 11 shots. Game Two was even worse.

Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant won three championships with the Lakers surrounded by a bunch of pedestrian players who vanished the moment Shaq and Kobe broke up. That's why all the wailing and booing of Heat fans about Antoine Walker this season was so silly and overdone. The Two Best Pieces are usually enough in the salary-cap age, no matter the irrelevant teammates. Broken and limping Miami was two minutes from here last season with Eddie and Damon Jones, for the love of Michael Jordan.

But now, as the Miami Heat prepares to play Dallas for the NBA championship beginning Thursday, things get more complicated, more muddied, more interesting.

Let's say, hypothetically, that you had to win a championship in the next seven games. And let's say you had your pick of any two players on the Dallas or Miami rosters. Which two would you take first? There are plenty of NBA general managers who would take the Mavs' Dirk Nowitzki over either Dwyane Wade or Shaquille O'Neal.

O'Neal has to be the guy you pick first, always. He changes everything, always. There's a reason, no matter his teammates, that he always gets to at least the second round of the playoffs.

Let that marinate for a second. Tracy McGrady has never been out of the first round and Kevin Garnett has only gotten beyond it once in a decade. Vince Carter and LeBron James haven't been past the second round. Shaq-less Kobe hasn't gotten beyond the first round. It's hard, obviously. And this is the third different franchise Shaq has taken all the way to The Finals. You think that's a coincidence?

Wade, exceptional as he is, understands and appreciates that. It's why, on ESPN the other day, he called O'Neal everything from his marriage counselor to his father figure to his best friend. And it's why he says now, ``I don't want to be LeBron James. I don't want to be Kobe Bryant. I want to be right where I am now, next to Shaq.''

Wade knows that Gilbert Arenas and Paul Pierce and McGrady and James do a lot of the same things he does. And they, too, might get to be Wade -- top-selling jersey in the NBA, one of People magazine's Most Beautiful, covers of magazines and video games -- if they had the luxury of playing next to Shaq. It isn't coincidence that Shaq's every sidekick promptly gets elevated to The Next Big Thing. There isn't anyone else in the league who does that, and it's why Wade is always so publicly and profoundly grateful. He understands.

Those easy layups previously invisible Jason Williams got against Detroit with Wade diminished by the flu?

It's because the world's best defender, Ben Wallace, kept getting caught under Shaq's armpits in a way that made Wallace's Afro look like Shaq needed to start grooming under there. It's why Udonis Haslem shoots such a high percentage and is always wide open for 10-footers. The opponent has to keep Shaq from getting to the rim for an offensive rebound or a lob or the highest-percentage shot in the sport. And keeping Shaq from the rim is only the most difficult assignment in the sport. Wade couldn't and wouldn't have shot 70 percent in the first five Detroit games without the giant's help.

O'Neal can be very sensitive, though. And Wade, in a genuine way, not a calculated one, has handled him perfectly, always genuflecting. It is why O'Neal, in talking about sidekicks Penny Hardaway and Kobe and Wade, produced perhaps the greatest analogy in the history of Shaq-ese when he said, ``The difference between those three is The Godfather trilogy. One is Fredo, who was never ready for me to hand it over to him. One is Sonny, who will do whatever it takes to be the man. And one is Michael. The Godfather hands it over to Michael. So I have no problem handing it over to Dwyane.''

Of course, Kobe wasn't corrupted at first, either. And Michael Corleone, the mature one, got plenty polluted by power and ego later. So it will be interesting to watch the Wade-Shaq relationship over the next few years, especially if you've read Pat Riley's The Winner Within and believe his warnings on how much intoxicants corrupt once fame and glory have been achieved. But if there is a personality immune to the insanity that comes with fame at these heights, it is Wade. National interviewers still walk away from talking to him with the words, ``God, I hope he doesn't change.''

All that said, you can see why some GMs would prefer the seven-foot Nowitzki to the 6-4 Wade. Nowitzki, it can be argued numerically, was better than any player in the league this season. He not only knocked off defending champ Tim Duncan, but did it in Duncan's building in a Game 7 with Duncan having the best playoff game of his life. And he did it with the league's best perimeter defender, Bruce Bowen, stapled to his forehead.

So Miami is about to meet the single greatest player it has seen in these playoffs, though Nowitzki's greatness ought to be diminished if not stripped entirely by revelations that he sings David Hasselhoff songs to himself at the free-throw line to relax. No one would question David Stern if he suspended Nowitzki for two games for this. It would be just.

We still can't be sure how much Miami's most recent ouster of Detroit had to do with Miami's rising or Detroit's falling. The Pistons were limping and shooting crooked in five games against Cleveland before they got to Miami's doorstep.

Dallas, meanwhile, has had the most impressive run of any team in the postseason. The Mavericks produced the only sweep in the first round, then beat San Antonio and Phoenix at their best. It is staggering to beat the Spurs when they get 20-plus from their three stars, but Nowitzki did that.

Dwyane Wade was so adamant about the issue that he sounded like Jim Mora Sr. being asked about the playoffs.

"Pressure?!"

Wade, who has been so accurate during the series that an 11-for-20 shooting night is considered struggling, instead views Game 6 vs. Detroit as a "golden opportunity." Heat coach Pat Riley uttered something about a second bite at an apple they have three bites to eat, and Shaquille O'Neal simply warned that his team has learned from its mistakes.

Here is a news flash for the Heat. Win Friday, or don't win at all. How's that for pressure?

Miami's opportunity to reach an NBA Finals was destroyed twice last season, and if it's involved in a close game Friday night, all those memories will come flooding back regardless of how many new members are on the team. The Heat are still fueled by Shaq and Wade, who both had to deal with severe disappointment last season, albeit in part because of injuries.

Let's flashback to Game 7 of the '05 East finals. A hampered Wade took a shot to alleviate his ailing ribs at halftime and took another kind of shot, albeit it ill-advised, in the final minute. As for O'Neal, his inability to get the ball where he wanted when he wanted down the stretch ultimately led to the ineffectiveness and hence, revamping of the supporting cast.

Those are facts. Check them out in the history books and remember history tends to repeat itself. Then suck down a tablespoon of reality and understand how difficult a Game 7 in Auburn Hills would be to win.

What are you smiling about, Detroit? The pressure is on you, too. The way the two-time defending conference champs opened this series was disgraceful.

Aren't you the best team in the league? Are you really supposed to find yourselves in this situation time after time?

Congratulations, you've entered a situation where the price for failure is extinction, and the obstacle just happens to be the toughest you've faced since last season's Finals. You lost that one, in case you forgot.

"I think they understand what's at hand," a maligned Flip Saunders said of his team. "You can't be afraid to lose and you can't be afraid to fail. If you're going to be afraid to fail, then you usually play timid and this team has not really done that in these types of situations."

"I thought the deal was fair," said Riley, the Heat president and coach, of the July 2004 trade that sent Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Brian Grant to the Lakers. "Giving up all three of those guys? Dwyane was the one guy that we didn't want to let go. Not that we had a crystal ball, but we felt there was something there that might be better even than what we'd seen."

Wade, who averaged 16.2 points as a rookie two seasons ago, has since blossomed into an All-Star, averaging 24.1 last season and 27.2 this season.

While the Lakers failed to reach the playoffs a year ago, Wade and O'Neal took the Heat to within one victory of the NBA Finals. This season, the Lakers lost to the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs and the Heat again reached the Eastern Conference finals. Wade, Shaq & Co. lead the Detroit Pistons, two games to one, going into Game 4 tonight at AmericanAirlines Arena.

O'Neal, hoping to avoid the conflicts that marred his time with Kobe Bryant, met with Wade soon after the trade was completed, Riley said.

"I think the genuine respect level from Shaq to Dwyane, Dwyane to Shaq, right from the beginning, has made those guys a perfect duo," Riley said. "They've got a great feeling for one another and great respect for each other.

"Dwyane was a young, coming player, had not really established himself … and Shaquille just gave him the platform and said, 'Go get it.'

"I think when a player like Dwyane is young and a player like Shaquille knows he has this kind of greatness in him, I think you feel very confident in yourself. I think a lot of his confidence comes from Shaquille."

WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

For the third consecutive year, the team with the worst record in basketball did not win the NBA Draft Lottery. Despite a record of 21-61, the Portland Trail Blazers slipped to the fourth selection for the 2006 draft. This was not a huge surprise, given Portland only had a 25% chance of winning the top pick.

Trail Blazers President Steve Patterson did not seem shaken by his team's drop in the order, hinting to the fact that last year’s fourth selection, Wake Forest point guard Chris Paul, was the overwhelming NBA Rookie of the Year for the Hornets.

"You may find a player with as big an impact at No. 4 or even No. 6 as you may at No. 1," Patterson said.

Meanwhile, the team that did beat the odds and claimed the first overall pick was the Toronto Raptors, despite only an 8.8% chance of winning. General Manager Bryan Colangelo, recently hired away from the Phoenix Suns, was excited about the first pick and said it is a sign of things to come for the downtrodden Raptors.

"For us to have this kind of luck is a symbol of a reversal of fortune going forward," Colangelo said. "We have our work cut out. This will help."

The biggest loser in the lottery had to be a team that wasn't in it: the New York Knicks. After posting their worst record (23-59) in 20 years, the Knicks weren't a factor Tuesday night. Why? Because in the 2005 off season, Isiah Thomas dealt the rights to New York's No. 1 pick in 2006 to the Chicago Bulls for underachieving center Eddy Curry.

The 6’-11” Curry had been diagnosed with heart problems, which is why the Bulls were looking to deal him. In New York, Curry averaged fewer than 26 minutes per game in 2005-06, and less than one block and six rebounds per outing. He also was rarely on the court during crunch time due to his weak defense.

Thus, the lottery's biggest winners had to be the young, up-and-coming Bulls, who ended up with the second overall pick. The Bulls were 41-41 this season and earned the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, where they pushed the second-seeded Heat to the limit in the opening round. The Bulls already have one of the best young backcourts in the league with Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich, and will look to add a front-court impact player in this year’s draft.

"We made the deal, and we're lucky we got in the lottery," said John Paxson, the Bulls' Executive Vice President.

As for the players vying for to be taken No. 1 overall, there does not appear to be a clear-cut choice. Gonzaga forward Adam Morrison, Texas power forward/center LaMarcus Aldridge, LSU forward Tyrus Thomas and Italian power forward Andrea Bargnani are considered the top candidates.

Aldridge, who reaffirmed his stock in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 with a 26-point, 13-rebound performance against West Virginia, could be the slight favorite for the Raptors. Toronto also likes Bargnani, who is considered a prospect in the mold of Dirk Nowitzki.

The Raptors' Colangelo would not comment on which way the team is leaning.

"Right now we've got a month to go, and we'll see what comes our way and see what we can dig up," Colangelo said. "I think there are about five or six names that could be there. We need a one [point guard] or a five [center]."

This year’s draft may be as much about the players not in it as those who are available. With the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement, this will be the first year that high school seniors won't be eligible for the draft. That eliminated Greg Oden, a 7-foot prep phenom bound for Ohio State this fall, who would have been a lock for the first pick.

Another big man who will not be on the draft board this year is Joakim Noah, the Most Outstanding Player of the 2006 NCAA Final Four. Noah led the Florida Gators to a surprise NCAA title, but decided not to strike while the iron was hot and come back to Gainesville for a run at another championship.

Those are two names most GMs would have rated at the top of their boards this year.

So maybe there is no true big winner of the 2006 lottery. The big winner in the NBA could be the team with that lucky ping-pong ball in 2007.