Not even a career-high 47 points by Gilbert Arenas, who also had eight assists and seven rebounds, could end Miami's run of domination over the Wizards, which has included 10 consecutive regular season wins and last spring's 4-0 sweep in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Miami rode the one-two punch of Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade (28 and 34 points, respectively), received an overdue contribution from Antoine Walker off the bench (21 points, 13 rebounds) and extended its winning streak over Washington to 14 games with a 128-113 victory.

"You always want to do well and win the game and I tried to carry us early, but we just couldn't get over the hump," said Arenas. "When you've got two guys who just dominate the inside like Shaq and Wade -- they did a great job. And then you have Antoine Walker coming off the bench, it's tough."

One of the dozens of rumors involving Pacers forward Ron Artest is a trade to Miami for Antoine Walker. It's unlikely because the Pacers wouldn't want Walker's long-term contract, but from all the booing going on at the Heat's home games, it sounds like Miami's fans would approve such a deal.

Walker was booed Tuesday while hitting 2-of-10 shots and committing four turnovers against Milwaukee, and was cheered when he was sent to the bench for Udonis Haslem.

Walker had no reaction to the fan reaction.

"I'm going to be here until (coach and team president Pat Riley) decides to move me, so you're going to have deal with me," he said. "But trying to boo me or stuff like that, that doesn't bother me. I played in Boston, so I've seen the worst."

Shaquille O'Neal laughed at the idea: diaper-clad men of gargantuan size summoned as battering rams to make the NBA's most imposing big man even better.

Don't laugh, Shaq. It might happen.

Coach Pat Riley is talking about adding extra bulk -- and he means real tonnage -- to Miami Heat practices.

Riley's idea? Sumo wrestlers.

"We're going to bring them in and have them lean on him and lean on him and we're not going to let him just back them in," Riley said. "And then he's going to have to take 100 jump hooks and 100 turnaround jumpers."

In Riley's eyes, there isn't much difference between sumo wrestling and the way teams defend his 7-foot-1, 340-pound center. Matches between sumotoris dressed in mawashis -- diapers, in the vernacular of the uninformed -- typically last 10 to 15 seconds, with two massive men pushing and shoving, trying to knock the other from a circular area.

Defending Shaq is essentially the same concept.

There's trash talk, and then there's Gary Payton's talk.
Sunday, Payton was at his best -- or worst, depending on your perspective. The target of his verbal jabs was former Heat forward Lamar Odom. And Odom didn't take well to Payton's chatter.

Payton received a technical foul in the third quarter for his wrangling with Odom, after which Odom winked toward his bench as if he had the situation under control.

But the back-and-forth banter continued for the remainder of the game, to the point where the two had to be separated at midcourt after the game was over. Odom said Payton crossed the line of good sportsmanship with some of his comments.

''He's an extremely disrespectful young man,'' Odom said. ``I'm not going to repeat anything he said, but he's extremely disrespectful.

``It's dudes like that, that's why things happen off the court between players and their friends and things like that. He needs to watch how he talks to other men. It's a difference between competing and how you talk to another man.''

Payton said he was just doing what he normally does, trying to get into the minds of his competition.

''You just keep talking and keep playing,'' Payton said. ``Some of the players, their mentality is they want to get mad and take it personal against you, then they start thinking about you all the time. That's where my mental toughness is, because I don't care. I can talk, and I'm not going to worry about you anymore.''

This Christmas NBA fans will be privy to a Pistons-Spurs championship rematch and yet another chapter in the Kobe-Shaq novella as the Heat take on the Lakers.

"We had a great run. Three rings," Bryant said. "I think people should leave it the hell alone and move on. ... I understand it's interesting, but we also have an interesting game. The game itself tomorrow is interesting."

"It's a big game, a Christmas game, the marquee game, Shaq and Kobe and Phil and all that stuff," said Heat coach Patrick Riley, who's 4-2 since Stan Van Gundy resigned as Heat coach. "It's got a great sidebar to it

There were 14 games in the NBA on Friday night, but most of the talk in Florida was about one that doesn't come until Sunday: the Los Angeles Lakers-Miami Heat matchup that brings the next chapter in the Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O'Neal rivalry.

Vince Carter was listening, and didn't like what he heard. Then he went out and tied a career high with 51 points, scoring 37 in the second half, as the New Jersey Nets extended their season-high winning streak to five games with a 95-88 victory over the Heat.

"All day I've been watching TV and they were mentioning the Christmas Day game without mentioning they had a game tonight, or to watch the Nets," Carter said. "We're just trying to earn respect."

There were other impressive performances Friday - Allen Iverson scored 53 points, Washington's Gilbert Arenas had 41 and the Clippers' Elton Brand had 38 points and 20 rebounds - but Carter's stood out while coming against one of the league's best teams.

"Basically, one guy beat us. ... Vince was unbelievable," Heat coach Pat Riley said.

Point guard Jason Williams returned to Miami's lineup against New Jersey on Friday, meaning the Heat had all five of their projected starters together for the first time this season.

Williams missed Miami's previous seven games with knee tendinitis. Only Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem have started every Heat game; Miami's other starters -- Williams, James Posey and Shaquille O'Neal -- have combined to miss 32 games already this season.

Many teams, including the Bulls, are keeping an eye on Miami's Michael Doleac. Doleac is a 6-foot-11-inch backup center who isn't in line for a lot of playing time in Miami behind Shaquille O'Neal and Alonzo Mourning. In his eighth season, he has played in only three games.

Doleac would give the Bulls more size and he has a nice shooting touch, although he isn't quick. He has career averages of 5.3 points and 3.5 rebounds a game.

Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning missed Tuesday night's game against the Atlanta Hawks with an upper respiratory infection.

It's the first game Mourning hasn't been available for this season. He entered Tuesday leading the NBA in blocked shots (3.56) and ranks third in field-goal percentage (.557), plus has averaged 10.3 points and 7.8 rebounds in 27 minutes per outing.

Mourning practiced Monday -- which was the second anniversary of his kidney transplant surgery -- but felt much worse on Tuesday, when the Heat opened a four-game homestand.

Miami also faced the Hawks without point guard Jason Williams, who missed his ninth game because of knee tendinitis.

Former Heat star Tim Hardaway said Monday the team should re-sign him and fellow almost-40 retiree Glen Rice in order to assure a championship for the club.