If Udonis Haslem had any hard feelings about losing his job as the Heat's starting power forward, he seems to be handling the demotion well.

Haslem had 19 points and 11 rebounds and made a clutch baseline jumper in the final minute Sunday to help the Heat held off the Bulls 95-87 at AmericanAirlines Arena.

``Some guys could fold and some guys could complain,'' Haslem said of being replaced in the starting lineup by second-year forward Michael Beasley this season. ``But I'm to the point now where if coming off the bench makes us a better team, I'm all for it.''

Haslem's production underscored a huge performance for the Heat's reserves on a night when Dwyane Wade scored 25 points but led the way mostly in a set-up role.

By the time the defensive slugfest was complete, Wade had become the first player to reach 10,000 career points in a Heat uniform, and his team secured its first 3-0 start since it opened 4-0 in 2004.

The Heat closed with a 13-4 run and held the Bulls (1-2) to 17 points in the fourth quarter and to only one field goal during the final four minutes. Center Jermaine O'Neal emerged with a broken nose, and his team came out with a hard-fought win.

``There at the end, I just saw bodies colliding,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ``It was like a gang fight the last three minutes. I was pleased with our bench. They didn't back down.''

Luol Deng scored 26 to lead the Bulls, who were held to 32.6 percent shooting in the second half and missed 15 of 21 shots in the fourth.

Miami's late-game defense allowed it to overcome sloppy play at times.

The Heat committed 19 turnovers that led to 17 points for the Bulls. O'Neal, coming off consecutive games of 22 points and 12 rebounds, was mostly grounded Sunday. He finished with eight points and seven rebounds before he left with two minutes remaining when he was hit in the nose by an elbow near the basket.

But when O'Neal left the game, backup center Joel Anthony stepped up with a key block of a John Salmons layup. The effort was indicative of how the Heat's bench responded throughout the game.

Anthony's rejection also came after Haslem, who played the entire fourth quarter, made a jumper to put Miami ahead 86-83. Haslem's final basket gave the Heat a 91-87 advantage.

Anthony had three blocks and Dorell Wright, who was the first perimeter reserve used in the injury absence of Daequan Cook, blocked two shots. And backup point guard Carlos Arroyo emerged from a modest slump to score 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. That effort supplemented starter Mario Chalmers, who had 11 points, four steals and four assists.

Beasley had 10 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.

``Our brotherhood in here is a story that's untold,'' O'Neal said of the chemistry between starters and reserves. ``There's going to be games when guys need other guys behind them to step up. There are no egos.''

The Heat will try to match its best start in franchise history when the Phoenix Suns visit Tuesday.

``I believe in my teammates,'' Wade said. ``It's all about trust. And my teammates are doing a great job in making us believe in each other.''

• The Heat held a moment of silence for former center Alan Ogg, who played 80 NBA games over three seasons beginning in 1990 with the Heat. Ogg died Sunday from complications from a staph infection. Ogg was 42.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@