Well, it took over a half a season, but finally the Heat look like NBA Champs. Granted, it was against one of the worst teams in basketball, the Charlotte Bobcats, but the Heat haven't looked this good all year. 

Miami dominated the Bobcats from start to finish on their way to a 113-93 victory. It's the Heat's fourth win in a row, and are now only two games under .500. 

D-Wade led the team with 27 points, 12 assists and 4 turnovers. But Shaq was the real stand out in the game. This was, without a doubt, Shaq's best game of the year. He finished with 22 points on 10-14 shooting in only 21 minutes of action. Shaq was active and aggressive the entire game. It looks like his conditioning is coming along.

The Heat were still playing without starting point guard Jason Williams. He was dressed for the game, and could have played, but Miami never needed him. Chris Quinn got the first start of his NBA career because Gary Payton had been suspended for one game for the two technical fouls he picked up on Saturday night. Apparently, he didn't exit the court quickly enough after getting ejected, so he got a suspension. Quinn did a nice job filling in for the Mitten. He finished with 14 points and 5 assists.

Honestly, I hope Payton doesn't come back. Chris Quinn isn't John Stockton, but he's decent and makes good decisions. He's also very feisty. He fights for everything he can get.

What was so impressive about this game was the way the Heat led the entire game, and never let the inferior Bobcats get close. That's what big time teams do. They dominate crappy teams, and play tough with good teams. Ok, so the Heat haven't played tough with good teams yet, but this is still a step in the right direction. Not only did they blow the Cats out, but they had a lot of fun doing it. There was all sorts of ball movement, slam dunks, fast break baskets and fantastic shooting. They finished the game shooting a gaudy 62%.

Wednesday night Miami takes on a Pierce-less Boston Celtics team. The Celts have lost 14 in a row, and if all goes well the Heat will make it 15. If they keep getting efforts like tonight, first place shouldn't be far away.