IN THE LANE

UNEVEN RISE: If the story at the start of the season was about how much the Heat missed power forward P. J. Tucker, with his offseason free-agency move to the Philadelphia 76ers, it lately has become how uneven the ride has been for Tucker with the 76ers, including benchings during crunch time. “Being who I am and being a guy that proved to my previous coaches where it’s like I can’t not be on the floor, to being in a position I’ve never been in, where I’m not playing, and I’ve still got to stay positive. You’ve still got to be professional,”Tucker told the Philadelphia Inquirer.“It’s a push and pull of everything . . . of what you’re used to and what your job is, what you came here for.”To 76ers coach Doc Rivers, it’s all matchup-based.“If there’s someone for P.J. to guard, I’ll say, then we need him on the floor,” Rivers said. “If there’s no one for him to guard, then we will go with more smalls. It just depends on the night.”The irony is that with the Heat, Tucker always was on the floor because the thought was he could guard anybody.

MINUTES RACE: For as scant as the minutes have been for Udonis Haslem this season in his role as de facto Heat captain emeritus, his 37 minutes this season entering the weekend were only five fewer than former Heat forward Andre Iguodala has played for the Golden State Warriors. Like Haslem, 42, Iguodala, 38, has come to be viewed more in a limited big-man role. “Right now, he’s our third big,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. The faith remains of Iguodala being able to contribute. “He just knows how to play basketball, and when we’re in sync, he’s always in the right spot moving the ball,” guard Stephen Curry said, according to San Jose’s Mercury News. “His defensive presence is huge, you can fit pretty much any four guys around him and we can play a high level of basketball.”

RECORD SETTING: Although he fell short of his goal of making the Heat roster coming out of camp, guard Mychal Mulder made a statement this past week when he became the career all-time 3-point leader for the team’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, passing Henry James’ 318. “I heard during a few games that I was moving up the list,” Mulder said. “First I was third, then second, but I never knew how behind I was. I figured over the course of the season that as long as I’m taking the right shots and they are continuing to fall, I would get to that number, whatever it was.” Mulder, who has had NBA stints with the Heat, Warriors and Orlando Magic, leads the G League in 3-pointers, available to be signed by any NBA team.