Antoine Walker

Miami Heat change lineup, putting Antoine Walker, Gary Payton on bench

Searching for a spark, Pat Riley has shaken up the Miami Heat's starting lineup.

Antoine Walker and Gary Payton were both on the bench to start the Heat's game against the Orlando Magic on Friday night, getting replaced by Dorell Wright and Jason Kapono _ who've combined to make four starts in their first 95 games in Heat uniforms.

Walker has had a dismal start to the season, with his scoring (10.6), rebounds (4.1), field-goal shooting (.380), free-throw shooting (.357) and three-point shooting (.238) all putting him on pace for career lows.

Payton has also struggled, averaging a mere 7.7 points and 2.6 assists on 34.6 percent shooting in the first 11 games. The defending NBA champions got off to a 4-7 start, albeit playing most games without starting centre Shaquille O'Neal and starting point guard Jason Williams.

``I don't like change. I've never liked it,'' Riley said. ``I've made a lot of trades here, but once I put a team together, I really hate change. I like to have a rotation that you can depend on every night, especially a starting rotation that hits the floor every night. That isn't the case for us this year because of the injuries and everything. And what I've put out there is just not acceptable as a unit.''

With Payton out, Dwyane Wade started at point guard for the Heat, with Kapono at shooting guard and Wright at small forward. Udonis Haslem was in his customary spot at power forward, and Alonzo Mourning remained at centre.

Already this season, Miami has lost five games by at least 15 points _ most recently Wednesday night, a 20-point loss at San Antonio. After that game, Riley said the Heat's effort went from ``disgusting to discouraging to despicable,'' and many players agreed.

As such, a lineup change wasn't totally unexpected.

``Sometimes you have to go in another direction for a while,'' Riley said.

The Heat were without O'Neal (knee surgery), James Posey (sore calf) and Williams (recovering from knee surgery). Riley said Williams will play Saturday when the Heat are at Charlotte.

``He wanted to play tonight. I want him for tomorrow,'' Riley said. ``I don't think I'll be able to play him on back-to-backs, so thinking that we're at home and maybe if we showed some passion and some energy we might be able to win and have him for tomorrow night on the road. At least, that's my thinking.''

Walker scores 16 points to lead Heat to 92 82 win over Magic

Antoine Walker scored 16 points to lead a Miami Heat team playing without four starters to a 92-82 win over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night.

The Heat overcame a 21-point deficit without Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O'Neal and Udonis Haslem, who were rested by Miami coach Pat Riley. Miami is also without starting point guard Jason Williams, who is recovering from offseason knee surgery.

The Magic had its starting five together and jumped out to a 33-12 lead before hitting long stretches of frustration on offence. Hedo Turkoglu led Orlando with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Dwight Howard contributed 14 points and eight rebounds.

Alonzo Mourning had 14 points for Miami. The Heat bench, which outscored Orlando's reserves 45-29, sparked the comeback and the win.

A pair of free throws by third-string point guard Chris Quinn and a driving layup from Vincent Grier started Miami on an 10-2 run that put the Heat up 81-74 with 4:40 left in the game. Orlando never got closer than five points the rest of the way.

The Magic led 31-12 at the end of the first period and pushed the lead to 21 points when Keyon Dooling hit the first shot of the second period, but the Magic offense then dried up. Orlando hit only one of its last 14 shots in the second period, giving Miami an opportunity to get back in the game.

The Heat bench, which contributed only one point and one rebound in the first quarter, scored 18 points and had eight rebounds in the second period. James Posey's layup and three-pointer started a 14-2 run that cut Orlando's lead to 39-32 and the Heat got it down to 44-40 on Grier's layup at the halftime buzzer.