When Heat coach Pat Riley spent $2.5 million to bring back forward Chris Gatling, who could have imagined it would be for Gatling to sit the bench?

After Gatling didn't play Saturday against the Houston Rockets, questions arose about the reasons for Riley's decision in recent games to significantly scale back Gatling's minutes. Both say it's a nonissue, just a matter of Gatling becoming more accustomed to Miami's system.

Said Riley: ``I think he has to get a little more comfortable with what we're doing while he's looking for his game.''

No arguments there.

``I know when I got here there was already a rotation,'' said Gatling, who played 24 games with the Heat in 1996 and spent two months with the team last offseason before being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. ``I'm not really worried about anything. I know I'm a good player and I can play. It's just a matter of trying to find minutes for different situations.''

While both parties seem to accept the situation, the dropoff in Gatling's playing time has been considerable. There have been games when Gatling played starter-type minutes, including 26 against the Chicago Bulls on Nov. 29, 22 against the Dallas Mavericks on Nov. 23 and 28 against the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 4. And there have been games such as Wednesday against the Washington Wizards (seven minutes) and Friday against the New Jersey Nets (eight).

Riley said he might utilize Gatling more at center, which could increase his minutes. In any case, Gatling has done his part to earn a chance. Since coming to Miami overweight and out of shape, Gatling says he has lost 30 pounds, bringing him down to 235.


ZO'S WOES

Riley said center Alonzo Mourning has struggled in part because he has been hesitant offensively.

``Zo is messing around with the ball too much,'' Riley said. ``We showed him on film. He's trying to make an extra move, an extra dribble. He holds a little too long.

``There are times when he can catch it and shoot it, especially when he catches it deep, and a lot of times he puts it on the floor and tries to make another move. We work with him incessantly on that, but this is something he has to understand. He sometimes takes himself out of a good position.''

Mourning said his indecision is a result of the frequent double-teams he encounters.