Coach Pat Riley, who started the whole thing about the Heat's defense being leaky, got offended when that line of questioning was followed up recently.

"Do I have to answer that question again?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

"We're going to work on it every day. I'm trying to keep things in perspective, and I think we all should. We're 19 games above .500, we lead the league in a number of offensive categories, we lead the league in a number of defensive categories. But right now, the biggest defensive improvement we have to make is the containment of the ball, and that's an ongoing battle."