"Based on the results of the past three games, plus the sprained right ankle sustained by Dwyane Wade, the impression would be that cracks are showing in the Miami Heat's foundation.

The reality, power forward LeBron James said, is that even amid team's 8-1 start, there never was a foundation.

"We haven't been healthy yet, since the start of the season," James said, with Friday's 117-104 loss to the Denver Nuggets leaving the Heat with a three-game losing streak to conclude their five-game coast-to-coast trip and, now, an 8-4 record.

With swingman Mike Miller on the cusp of returning from the sports hernia that has had him sidelined since the start of the lockout-delayed training camp, the Heat appeared on the verge of becoming something closer to whole."