MIAMI (AP) Miami Heat guard Rafer Alston's long jump shot clanked off the rim and deflected straight up, six feet above the basket, then fell through the net. Alston backpedaled upcourt with his palms pressed together in prayerful gratitude for lucky bounces.

Lord knows the Heat could use a few. They're last in the NBA in shooting and next to last in scoring, which is why they're a season-worst 10 games below .500.

Opponents tends to clog the inside and let the Heat win or lose from the perimeter. Usually they lose.

``People have decided, `We're going to stand in the lane against the Miami Heat,''' Miami coach Stan Van Gundy says. ``I think people have said, `We're going to keep them away from the rim. We're going to make them shoot the ball.'''

The Heat are shooting 41 percent, which is last among the league's 29 teams and on pace for a franchise record. Even the 1988-89 expansion team that went 15-67 shot 45 percent.

The only player to make half his shots has been Tyrone Hill, who went 3-for-5 but was waived anyway Dec. 1. Lamar Odom is shooting 41 percent, Eddie Jones 40, Alston 35 and Caron Butler 33.

The Heat are averaging 85.8 points per game, nearly 20 less than league leader Sacramento.

``We can score points,'' says rookie Udonis Haslem, who had 18 in a loss Tuesday to Boston. ``As a team we just have to be more aggressive. I think guys tend to sit around and watch Eddie and Lamar do their thing. We have to step in and help those guys.''

The Heat have never been a high-scoring team, not even when they were perennial Atlantic Division champions under Pat Riley. But their scoring average has declined to a franchise record low each of the past three seasons.

Win totals have been falling too, from 52 in 1999-00 to 50 to 36 to 26 a year ago. The Heat started this season 0-7 and have lost six of their past seven games to fall to 16-26.

Van Gundy says the Heat need to run and attack the basket more, but their lack of height makes the going inside tough. Miami tried 31 layups in one recent game and had 10 shots blocked.

``With our size, we're driving and dishing and it's tough for us to finish against bigger teams,'' Van Gundy says.

Points have been especially hard to come by late in the game. The Heat scored five points in the final 5{ minutes of Tuesday's 86-84 defeat. Five losses in the past two weeks have been by less than 10 points.

``We've been in every game lately,'' Alston says, ``but down the stretch, other teams seem to hit their shots and we don't. We've got to start making those shots, me included.''

Because the Heat play in the weak Eastern Conference, the standings Wednesday showed them trailing by just 2{ games in the race for the eighth and final playoff berth. Better health in the second half of the season might be enough to help the Heat make up that deficit.

Butler has been slow to recover from arthroscopic knee surgery in October, and his scoring average has declined to 6.5 from 15.4 as a rookie last season. Rookie guard Dwyane Wade, at times Miami's best offensive player this season, has been sidelined since Dec. 30 with a wrist injury but might return next week.

``We've got to get it going,'' Butler says. ``We're getting all of our guys back. We'll be fine.''

The next chance to make up ground in the playoff race comes Friday, when the Heat host division leader New Jersey. Miami plays 24 of its final 41 games at home.