Caught in cycle of .500, Heat seeking to make their move

MIAMI — Consider it a .500 hamster wheel, the Miami Heat seemingly running in place since overcoming their uneven early-season start.

Over the last eight games, the Heat have been: one game under .500, at .500, one game under .500, at .500, one game under .500, at. 500, one game over .500 and now back at .500, at 19-19, after Sunday night’s ugly loss to the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena.

“I think once we get over the hump, two to three games over, we’ll really get rolling,” Justise Winslow said amid this stuck-in-themud pattern. “But right now it’s a little bit of a challenge for us to do that.

“You’ve got to figure out a way to string together a couple more wins, try to start another streak, see where it goes.”

After a run of lower-tier competition, with two of the recent victories coming against the league-worst Cleveland Cavaliers, the ante is now raised with the next two against the Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics, starting Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena.

“The goal for this team has always been try to get homecourt in the first round and then go from there,” Winslow said. “That’s still the goal and will remain a goal for the remainder of the season. We’ve just got to continue to put our best foot forward and try to accomplish that goal.”

So far, the Heat have topped off and leveled off at the No. 6 seed.

The Heat exited their third loss of the season to the Hawks just one game in the loss column from being out of a playoff seed.

“Obviously we’ve worked hard to get back to the .500 mark, which puts us in playoff contention,” guard Dwyane Wade said, “but we want to continue to get better, like we did in the month of December. You don’t play for .500 basketball. You play to be the team we were in December and try to continue to grow on that.

“The thing that we’re trying to fight against since I’ve been back is understanding what team we want to be. Because it’s hard to be good and it’s easy to be average.”

Like Dion Waiters, guard Wayne Ellington also finds himself biding his time on the bench, caught in the Heat’s glut at guard, especially with Winslow now cast as the starting point guard.

“It’s been tough, obviously,” said Ellington, who has been held out of the last six games, including when the Heat shot 5 of 34 on 3-pointers in Sunday’s loss. “I’m a competitor at the end of the day. I want to be out there. I feel like I can help our team, of course.

“It’s been a situation that’s been tough for me, but the guys have been great, keeping my mind right, keeping me upbeat. And I’ve been trying to feed them the same energy as they feed me. So I’ve been working my butt off with the team to stay ready and whatever happens, happens, I guess.”

Asked if he thought he might get the call amid the Heat’s wayward 3-point marksmanship Sunday, Ellington said, “I don’t know. It crossed my mind, I guess. It did cross my mind. But, you know.”

Wade’s latest jersey exchange was with Hawks rookie guard Trae Young, who has AAU ties to Wade’s oldest son, Zaire.

“’He’s got a great relationship with my son, which I appreciate,” Wade said. “And he’s somebody whose game, you know, honestly, I look at him, I talk to him on different occasions, respect him.

“It’s good when the younger guys come in and they want your jersey as well. I’m honored. I’m ready to watch his career for a long time. As I let him know, we’ll make sure we get some work in together and I want to put him and my son together.”