It’s Dwyane Wade, burning up the charts, and ready to be the next NBA superstar

Tell me something negative about Dwyane Wade.

I’ll wait.

Waiting…

Waiting…

Sorry, having an unusually spelled first name isn’t negative, although it does confuse writers and television graphics people from time to time.

Still waiting…

The truth is, you can’t find a negative about the Miami Heat playmaker, which accounts for half of why Wade ought to be the biggest name in the NBA.

We’ve been having the wrong debate, trying to decide whether LeBron James or Kobe Bryant is the next Michael Jordan. You can’t hold the conversation without including Wade.

Wade fills almost every requirement for the role of MJ2. He delivers spectacular plays, impressive leadership and a pleasant public personality, with no arrests or skeletons in his closet. And, he looks to be on the verge of adding the final missing piece of clutch playoff performances.

The point where Jordan stepped beyond the showmanship of Dominique Wilkins to become his own sports brand-name conglomerate came in the playoffs. Greatness can’t be bestowed without delivering in the postseason.

Wade’s latest MJ moment came Monday night. You saw it, if you watched the game or caught any glimpse of the highlights. Wade drives inside, twists in the lane, gets hit and knocked cockeyed but flips the basketball backward over his right shoulder and into the basket.

It was the equivalent of Jordan switching hands in midair for a reverse lay-up against the Lakers.

It was also confirmation that Wade’s playoff greatness is upon us.

For emphasis, Wade hit a deep sideline jumper with one of those skinny, pesky Pistons draped all over him.

Wade’s unselfish, team-first play is contagious. Shaquille O’Neal looks 10 years younger playing alongside him. Antoine Walker passes up a shot every seven or eight touches to make him happy. James Posey knows Wade will set him up in the corner, which gives Posey the incentive to get open. Gary Payton, who got in Wade’s face in a petulant display against the Chicago Bulls, has since shut up and filled the role player slot for which he was hired.

Wade averages 30 points per game and never looks as if he’s hogging the ball. Could the same be said about LeBron or Kobe? Not every night, every game, the way it is with Wade.

Wade’s brilliance makes Pat Riley look like vintage Riles again.

Before I hear a rebuttal from Kobe fans – or should I say Kobe fan? – I acknowledge Bryant has three rings to Wade’s zero.

But Bryant owes the peak-level Shaq a debt for those titles, and his personality assures he will never be embraced by the public the way Jordan was, and the way Wade could be. Bryant came across as distant before he was perceived to have run Shaq out of Los Angeles, before the sexual assault accusations, before the tearful public confession of adultery, before the $4 million ring he gave his wife as a peace offering.

James is already on his way to becoming the game’s biggest, most spectacular star in the coming years. That seems all but certain given his age, desire and size, which lets him play inside and out. But he’ll also be handcuffed by a weak supporting cast unless secret maneuvers in the commissioner’s office manage to boost the Cleveland roster, or free agency carries James to New York, Boston or Philadelphia.

Wade’s time is now. San Antonio, led by the solid but too stoic Tim Duncan, has left the building. The Pistons, an example of winning through team chemistry, are about to be exiled at Wade’s hands.

The NBA superstar door is open, and you need a championship to enter.

If you’ve been paying attention, these playoffs have been as thrilling, exciting and well-played as any in recent history. A new era is upon us.

While Shaq remains a force of nature on occasion, he’s in the twilight of his career. He’s the Heat’s No.2 option.

It’s Dwyane Wade’s turn to seize the mantle of NBA’s best. Of that, I’m positive.

Once upon a time, there was a gritty group that led the NBA in field-goal-percentage defense for two years running. And then the Bulls started their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series against the Miami Heat. They have looked like a bunch lulled into a stupor. They are down 2-0 in this best-of-seven series, in which they uncharacteristically have taken a battering from the Miami offense and now wonder aloud how they can put all the pieces back together. "Defensively we just haven't been the team we were all season," Bulls captain Kirk Hinrich said Tuesday. Sometime before Thursday night's Game 3 tipoff, they must relocate the defensive efficiency that has defined them. That does not necessarily mean shutting out Dwyane Wade or Shaquille O'Neal, but it does require proper technique and focus. "Our defense hasn't been good enough to win," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "It's pretty much that simple. We've let other players get into the game that we don't have any intention of letting into the game. We've rallied, been able to stay in the games and have a chance, but overall our defense hasn't been good enough." To wit, here are four areas the Bulls must address defensively going into Game 3_and one area that shows promise: Always be closing The Bulls spent Tuesday working on close-out technique while running at shooters_precisely the problem O'Neal presents when the defense collapses and he kicks the ball outside. The Bulls have been out of control, allowing perimeter players to slip by and create easy opportunities. "Our close-outs are bad, just running by people," Hinrich said. "We're not making the second and third efforts we usually make." Early bird-dog special The Heat has scored 60-plus points in the first half of each game, shooting 58.8 percent in the first quarter of Game 1 and 52.4 percent in the first period of Game 2. Tighter defense from the jump might disrupt Miami's teamwide rhythm and, in turn, killer contributions like Jason Williams' 17-point first half Monday. "We'd like to come out and win the first quarter of Game 3," Skiles said. "Both games they've given us a body blow right off the jump where we just haven't been quite ready enough." Feeling the buzz This was Skiles' Game 2 complaint. Too many atypical breakdowns as the Heat's possessions wore on. "We had a good 12, 14 seconds of defense, and then they would break us down," he said. "One of our guys would not be in the right spot, be a little bit asleep, and they hurt us." `D' is for Dwyane It's impossible to keep Wade at bay when he has the ball every possession, especially late in the game. And the Bulls are not overreacting because he shot 8 of 21 in Game 1 and needed 20 shots to score 21 points in Game 2. "You play him as tough as you can and hope he misses some shots," Hinrich said. If anything, the Bulls must remain patient with Wade so as not to exacerbate their problems. "We've struggled to get help there, and then when we've helped, we've overhelped," Skiles said. "He has gotten in a crowd and been able to dish the ball to other people." To be sure, locating a silver lining in the Bulls' cloudy defense is tough. But there appears to be at least one building block ... `A' for effort If the Bulls' calling-card desire was waning, the club might as well not even open the United Center this week. But players say that's not the case. "We can't really question how hard we're playing," forward Luol Deng said. "We just have to keep doing that and be smarter." Added Skiles: "Guys are trying to be active. It's just technique. It's just the focus of exactly what needs to be done on this possession and getting it done. It's not like we're out there walking around in mud and can't keep up with them." If that sounds a bit defensive, well, at least it's a start.

Pat Riley called this one perfectly. Asked 90 minutes before the game about Dwyane Wade's season-long struggles against the Chicago Bulls, Riley expressed nothing but confidence in the Miami Heat's superstar guard. "Great players will find a way to get around any defense when you raise the stakes," Riley said. "And Dwyane is a big-game guy." Sure enough, Riles was right. Wade scored 30 points, 14 in the fourth quarter _ including six straight to lead Miami back from its only deficit of the night _ and the Heat beat the Bulls 111-106 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference series on Saturday night. "That's what he does," Heat center Shaquille O'Neal said. "The fourth quarter is his." Echoed Wade: "Like Shaq and I always say, the fourth quarter is my time." Wade added 11 assists for Miami before hobbling into the locker room with 8.6 seconds left, succumbing to a severe cramp in his calf. O'Neal added 27 points and 16 rebounds for the Heat, who can now enjoy a lead and a good omen _ no O'Neal team has ever lost a playoff series when taking a 1-0 lead. Game 2 is Monday in Miami. "We didn't play as smart as we needed to in some instances," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "But we put it all out there. ... We took it down to the end. We had our opportunities. We just weren't able to make the big plays when it was necessary to make them." Ben Gordon scored 35 points and Andres Nocioni had an 18-point, 15-rebound effort for Chicago, which connected on 13 tries from 3-point range. Kirk Hinrich scored 19 points and had eight assists for the Bulls, who entered the game as the NBA's hottest team, winning 10 of their last 11 in the regular season. "No moral victories at this point in the season," Gordon said. "We've just got to figure out how to slow them down. I thought in the first half they had way too many fast-break points and in the key moments of the game we had some turnovers that really hurt us." By the time he left, Wade _ who averaged 12.3 points and shot 24.3 percent in three regular-season meetings with Chicago _ had done plenty to doom the Bulls' chances of stealing the opener. The Bulls never led until the fourth quarter, using a 12-0 run to turn an 87-79 deficit into a 91-87 lead. Gordon had 10 of those 12 points, including a pair of free throws that ended the run with 8:22 remaining. Wade, who was 4-for-15 at that point, provided Miami's answer. He scored the game's next six points, capping his personal burst with a jumper over Chris Duhon for a 93-91 edge with 7:06 left. O'Neal added a dunk 35 seconds later for a four-point lead and the Heat never trailed again. "Too much Dwyane Wade and Shaq in the end," Duhon said. Wade said he didn't believe the cramping issue would keep him out of Game 2. "I'll be all right," Wade said. "I'll get a lot of liquids and Gatorade in me tonight, and I'll be good for Monday." Wade had two huge rebounds in the final minute, first an offensive one that allowed Miami to run 20 critical seconds off the clock, then a defensive board off Nocioni's missed 3-pointer with 16 seconds left. He was fouled and hit both free throws to give the Heat a five-point lead with 14 seconds remaining. "We feel like we should have stolen that game," Hinrich said. "We were right there." The win added to an emotional time for Riley, whose 96-year-old mother Mary died on Friday. Riley's eyes reddened as he discussed his mother's death before the game, although he insisted that his personal turmoil will not distract him during the playoffs. "My mother always used to say, and she told me time and again this week, 'Life goes on, so get on with it,'" Riley said. "She couldn't stop saying that to her children. That's who she was. And we're getting on with it." There were some fireworks in the first half, when Heat forward Udonis Haslem wound up on the floor after battling three Bulls for a rebound and voiced his displeasure in a less-than-ideal manner _ he threw his mouthpiece in the direction of referee Joey Crawford, who immediately signaled his ejection. "I threw my mouthpiece at the ground," said an apologetic Haslem afterward. "Looking at it on TV, I could see how Joey would think I was throwing it at him." It wasn't clear if the mouthpiece actually hit Crawford, who began angrily shouting and pointing at someone sitting with the Heat radio crew at the scorers' table about 1 1/2 minutes later. But Crawford wasn't the only person in the arena left fired up by the Haslem incident. After Haslem left, Miami scored the next seven points to start a half-ending 22-11 run for a 63-51 lead at intermission. Wade had seven points in the period-ending spurt, but Gordon had 11 in the third quarter as the Bulls got within five entering the final period. "We've got to expect a war," Heat guard Gary Payton said. "Everybody's overlooking this team, but this is a very good team." Notes:@ Chicago drew five offensive fouls in the first half. ... Malik Allen was 4-for-4 in the game's first 7:08, but didn't hit another shot until 9:55 remained in the third quarter. ... Wade donned a new design of his Converse signature sneakers, with pleats instead of slits, synthetic crocodile skin at the toe and his logo on the heel. "They'll look nice, hopefully, when I'm in the air _ from the back," Wade said. ... Injured C Alonzo Mourning got into the spirit of the Heat's "White Hot" playoff marketing motto, wearing a white suit and white shoes. ... Attendance was 20,288, the largest home postseason crowd in Heat history.

The Miami Heat played without injured center Alonzo Mourning and suspended forward Udonis Haslem on Monday, but coach Pat Riley knew he had more than enough weapons to take a 2-0 lead against the Bulls in the first-round Eastern Conference playoff series. And that arsenal extended beyond Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal, who combined for 43 points. The Heat put six players in double figures, so not even the Bulls' 53.2 percent shooting could save them from a 115-108 defeat. Heat point guard Jason Williams hasn't been getting much attention from the media, and even the Bulls sagged off him a bit. But expect that to change because Williams has been a major factor in the Heat's success. He tied O'Neal with a team-high 22 points on 7-for-11 shooting after scoring 17 points Saturday in Game 1. ''They sagged off me a little in the first half, so I had to shoot,'' Williams said. ''I never thought I was a good shooter, so I'd probably do the same thing if I were them. But I was just trying to hit my shots when they doubled Shaq.'' Williams said the knee tendinitis that plagued him late in the season still acts up, but not enough to make an impact. ''It's still sore, but at this point in the season, you have to fight through it,'' he said. ''I was worried about my conditioning. I never thought working in the pool would help, but it did. My conditioning still isn't 100 percent.'' Forward Antoine Walker also stepped up in Haslem's absence, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Haslem was suspended for Game 2 for throwing his mouthpiece in the direction of referee Joe Crawford in Game 1. ''I thought [the suspension] was a tremendous overreaction on the part of the referee and the league,'' Mourning said. ''When I get a chance, I'm going to have a long talk with Stu [Jackson, the NBA's senior vice president of basketball operations]. Stu was a player, and he knows the intensity of a playoff game. I thought he would use better judgment. ''If Udonis wanted to hit Joey with that mouthpiece, he would have thrown it higher. And if Joey were looking up the court at where the play was going, he wouldn't have seen it. I thought Udonis should have gotten a technical foul and maybe a fine. That's it.'' Riley said he talked with Haslem, who was not even allowed into American Airlines Arena for Game 2. ''He has great remorse,'' Riley said. ''Udonis is a warrior. He wanted to be out there. ''After he calmed down, he was embarrassed by the whole thing. I think there were three plays in a row that frustrated him prior to that, then that play where he thought he was fouled. ... He was really remorseful. He'll be back.'' Mourning also missed the game as he continues to recover from a torn muscle in his right calf. ''I'm coming close to being back on the court,'' said Mourning, who had considered playing Monday. ''I'm making a tremendous amount of progress.''