Game Time: Magic 122, Heat 99

The exchanges that brought Jermaine O'Neal to Miami and Rafer Alston to Orlando were perhaps the most significant of all the otherwise minor trades that were completed last week.

That's because the Magic had a dire need for a top-tier point guard to replace Jameer Nelson if they had any hopes of challenging Boston and/or Cleveland in the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Heat are currently seeded fifth in the East. In order to catch Atlanta and thereby gaining the home-court advantage in the opening round, and/or to avoid being caught by Detroit — Miami was in desperate need of an experienced, talented center.

The game at hand was a blowout, highlighted by a 50-point explosion by Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard's domination in the paint and Orlando's sharp-shooting.

Monday's action

• Robinson drops 41; Knicks win
• Nets stun 76ers with crazy shot
• Allen, Celtics cruise past Nuggets
• Jazz win as Boozer returns
• Paul leads Hornets past Kings
• Randolph, Clippers top Warriors

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FOXSports.com analysis

• Rosen: Alston, O'Neal must deliver
• Rosen: Fresh starters in Houston
• Whitlock: An open letter to Barkley
• Galinsky: NBA Power Rankings

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Video

• Hill: Are Suns done minus Amare?

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Photos

• NBA All-Star Game
• Slam Dunk Contest

And there are some NBA insiders who believe that a player's psychology should also be part of the equation. Is the injured player unsure of his own talents, courage, willpower or ability to excel in clutch situations? If this is so, might that player have an unconscious desire to provide a fail-safe excuse for himself by getting hurt on, say, his 287th fall of the season?

Or perhaps injuries are all about a player's karma?

The answers to some of these proposed questions might apply to some specific players, i.e., the blatant insecurities of T-Mac. But then again, perhaps not.

In basketball, as in real life, the only certainty is that there are more possibilities than there are certainties.

Travels with Charley

Part one

Mike Fleischer was my coach at Hunter College — a bright man who, among other things, prided himself on being more adventurous than his peers. But for his players, coach's adventures often turned out to be either worthless or painful.

Like the time he saw the Russian National team play some college or other at Madison Square Garden. This was back in the early 1960s when any appearance on American soil by the Russkies was a rarity. In any event, coach was enthralled by the Russians' pregame routine: After undergoing some earnest stretching exercises, the Russians spent the remainder of their allotted warmup time in an all-out five-on-five halfcourt scrimmage.

Instead of going through artificial layup lines and random shooting practice, here was a true preparation for the game at hand. An exact duplication of the very same movements, skills and teamwork that a basketball game requires.

What a wonderful and revolutionary idea!

Of course, before our next game, coach instructed us to follow the same procedure.In truth, despite coach's demands to the contrary, in our post-adolescent haze we were basically a lazy, selfish team — with me and a high-jumping forward named Lyndon Prince perpetually competing for shots, points, and rebounds.

We were slightly embarrassed by the new orders. However, with the results being strictly unofficial and unrecorded, during our cramped little scrimmage we played with passion, the ball always found the open man, extra passes were always made, and our play was incredibly unselfish.

Eureka! Coach had found the answer!

Of course, once the real game began, we were all relieved to revert to our usual me-first game plans.

Revolutions are always temporary, and always wind up eating their young.