Ricky Rubio dished out 12 assists, scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds in a 103-101 loss to the Heat on Friday.

"The kid has something. He has that Steve Nash capability," Dwyane Wade said. "They've got a gem in him. He's going to be great for them."

Rubio left a lasting impression on the Heat.

"He's a handful on the pick-and-roll," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "At the end, we were forced to go bigger and switch just to get him out of that pulling trigger game and get us running around all over the place. He's a clever passer. Two or three times, he had me looking the wrong way."

Derrick Rose is close to agreeing to a 10-year, $250 million extension with adidas, according to an industry source close to the situation.

Rose is adidas' only counter to Kobe Bryant in emerging markets like China, where volume really counts. Rose reportedly already outsells LeBron James there.

Both Bryant and James endorse Nike.

In the Heat’s first three games, neither LeBron James nor Dwyane Wade has attempted a three-pointer.

“I’m just trying to focus on being in the paint and get to the free-throw line,” James said.

The surprising lack of three-point statistics for James and Wade is part of a larger plan by Heat coach Erik Spoelstra to be more aggressive inside the paint.

“We have enough three-point shooters on our team,” James said, acknowledging that he’s not one of them.

Dwyane Wade's short bank shot with 2.9 seconds left lifted the Heat to a 96-95 victory over the Bobcats on Wednesday, marking just the second potential game-winning field goal for the Heat dating back to last season.

Last year, the Heat were 1-for-18 from the field and 0-for-11 from 3-point range when looking to tie or take the lead in the last 10 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime.

LeBron James was 1-for-7 in those situations, with the lone make coming on a fast-break dunk off a turnover with 5.5 seconds against the Grizzlies. Wade was 0-for-5.

The Heat are averaging 102.5 possessions per game, well above their 2010-11 season average of 93.2 (21st in NBA).

Miami had 104 possessions against the Celtics Tuesday night, making it the Heat's fastest regulation game in the last two years.

LeBron James finished with 26 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Norris Cole scored nine straight points in the final three minutes of the game to help the Heat withstand a late game run from the Celtics in their 115-107 win.

Cole scored 20 points, shooting 8 of 16 from the field, to go along with four rebounds and four assists.

Fans chanted “MVP!” as Cole went to the free throw line with 9.3 seconds left and the game sealed.

With Heat coach Erik Spoelstra tailoring much of the offense to the versatile talents of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, and encouraging them not only to push the pace but also to sometimes set up camp down low, Chris Bosh is the guy who could get left behind.

After Tuesday’s shootaround, Bosh acknowledged that it remained “a feeling out process.”

“With this offense, I’m going to be trailing a lot, so it takes some getting used to,” said Bosh, who was 2-of-9 against the Mavericks. “Sometimes, it’s a race to the post, and those guys are fast. Nine times out of 10, I’m not going to beat them there. It’s just getting a feeling for where I can post up in the offense, and kind of dictating where the ball goes sometimes. And setting screens and rolling and sealing. And when I can, race down there to that block and get going.”

Erik Spoelstra said the Heat were prepared to be aggressive offensively against the Mavericks, giving LeBron James and Dwyane Wade more freedom to operate instead of being held to a structured offense.

"It allows us to add another dimension of inside-out and still be able to play to some of our other strengths, which is our speed and quickness," Spoelstra said.

James had 37 points and 10 rebounds in Miami's 105-94 win.

The Heat played an extremely impressive game in their Finals rematch against the Mavericks on Opening Day.

Dirk Nowitzki was held to just 6-for-15 shooting. Dallas shot 28.9 percent in the first two quarters due to pressure defense on the perimeter.

“We played exactly how we wanted to play,” said Chris Bosh.

Miami also outrebounded the Mavericks by a 51 to 31 margin.

“The key for us [Sunday] was rebounding,” Shane Battier said. “That will be our mantra the entire year — when you rebound, good things happen.”

The Knicks have the highest average ticket price of the five Christmas Day games.

Here are the averages, according to information provided by TiqIQ.com:

Celtics @ Knicks: $516.09
Bulls @ Lakers: $466.02
Heat @ Mavs: $395.97
Magic @ Thunder: $295.71
Clippers @ Warriors: $104.95