Brian Grant was recounting one of the more difficult of his 12 rebounds Saturday against New Jersey, and LaPhonso Ellis liked what he heard.
"The dirty workers," Ellis said from his locker.
Ellis himself had seven rebounds and tipped several other balls that resulted in a handful of Miami's 13 offensive rebounds. Ellis, who once averaged 21.9 points for the Denver Nuggets in his prime, now takes pride in doing some of the less noticeable tasks on the floor.
Miami has three players --- Ellis, Jim Jackson and Kendall Gill -- who used to be his team's first offensive option and flourished in that role. Now they are accepting much smaller positions and trying to be just as successful with them.
"A lot of us here used to be the man on our former teams," Ellis said. "But you have to make a sacrifice."
Gill twice has averaged 20-plus points in his 11-year career, leading the New Jersey Nets with a 21.8 scoring average in 1996-97. With the Heat he is asked to be the team's best perimeter defender who can hit the timely outside shot.
"You have to think of it like this: Do I want to come in and score 25 and lose every night, or do I want to score a little bit, play a role and win?" Gill said. "I could tell you how many times I should've made the All-Star team or should've made the all-defensive team. I was putting in work, but just because I lost, I didn't get anything. You might as well save all that and go to a winning team."
Miami's not a winning team this year, but winning seven of its past eight games has helped Gill accept his role with the team.
The recent winning ways also have helped Jackson's transition, not only from big-time scorer to role player but from starter to reserve.
Since he was taken out of the starting lineup to boost the team's bench scoring, the Heat have gone 7-1.
"For me it's a tough transition because you're used to being involved in the game in a lot of different aspects, whether I'm handling the ball, shooting the ball or whatever," Jackson said.
"It's an adjustment you have to make mentally, knowing that you may not get your 15 to 18 shots a game. You have to pick out other things -- defense, rebounding, passing the ball."
While neither Gill, Jackson nor Ellis will be required to carry Miami's offense for extended stretches, their scoring ability does help take some of the pressure off Eddie Jones and Alonzo Mourning.
Jackson has led the Heat in scoring four times this season, and Ellis has done it twice. Gill has played his best basketball of the season recently, scoring in double figures in three of the last six games.
It won't exactly remind the trio of the old days, but it has helped Miami flash back to its glory days lately.
"We've all scored and we're all still capable of doing it, but it's better to win than to do that," Gill said. "Winners get everything, losers get nothing."