IN THE LANE

THE WAYNE REFRAIN: After years of opponents attempting to solve LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal, it turns out the singular focus against the Heat on Wednesday was stopping Wayne Ellington after the Heat guard converted six 3-pointers in the first half against the Trail Blazers. Former Heat guard Shabazz Napier told Portland’s Oregonian that assistant coach David Vanterpool pulled no punches on the subject during halftime at AmericanAirlines Arena. “He pointed out how Wayne Ellington was getting it going and he wanted us to really dig down deep on defense and understand that [he] shouldn’t be getting six threes in the first half,” Napier said. “He’s a great shooter, but someone should be there to at least disrupt his shot. He wasn’t happy with it. We took it in stride and did a better job in the second half.” After shooting 6 of 7 on 3-pointers in the first half, Ellington was 1 of 3 in the second, as the Blazers rallied to win from a 16-point deficit. REUNION TIME: While a video commemorating the 81 games he played over his three seasons with the Heat is unlikely when the Dallas Mavericks play next Saturday at AmericanAirlines Arena, Josh McRoberts might actually make it to the court. Acquired in a dual salary dump from the Heat in the offseason (the Mavericks clearing A.J. Hammons’ $1.5 million 2018-19 salary, the Heat clearing needed 2017-18 cap space for Wayne Ellington), McRoberts has again been working to push past a chronic foot injury. McRoberts has been listed with a “lower extremity injury” by Dallas. “Basically, it’s just my foot having been broken three different times,” McRoberts told the Dallas Morning News. “That’s pretty much what it is. I’m trying to get my foot healthy and feeling good.” He said hope remains, “I see the light at the end of the tunnel, which is good, because there have been times throughout the last three or four years when I haven’t always seen that light.” THAT’S AMARE: Former Heat center Amar’e Stoudemire was back in the NBA, briefly, this past week, when he was invited back to Madison Square Garden for a Hanukkah commemoration. The former New York Knicks star spent last season playing in Israel, after ending his NBA career with the Heat in 2015-16. Stoudemire, who considers himself culturally Jewish, continues to live in South Florida and told the New York Post he is coaching his son’s sixth-grade team. Stoudemire, who had an uneasy close to his lone season with the Heat, said he embraced the Knicks’ invitation, “I was like, sure, I’ll go back to New York, hang out with the Knicks, sit courtside and eat popcorn.” PAIN GAME: If you didn’t think players were fans as well, consider Dion Waiters and what the Heat guard endured watching his beloved hometown Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday, when they defeated the emerging Los Angeles Rams on his birthday but lost emerging quarterback Carson Wentz with a season-ending knee injury. “That’s probably one of the happiest, saddest wins I’ve ever had — ever,” he said. “It was mixed emotions, man. Just don’t want Philly to be great, I guess, man. It’s crazy.”