The Miami Heat have played key stretches without a point guard, playing Shane Battier and Ray Allen with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

But Erik Spoelstra is opting to use either Mario Chalmers or Norris Cole on the floor at virtually all times during the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Chicago Bulls.

Chalmers and Cole are averaging a combined 20.3 points in the series. Cole is the third leading scorer for the Heat in the series at 12.5 points per game.

“We felt we had one of the younger point guard tandems in the league that we can build on and offer us championship minutes now,” Erik Spoelstra said.

“We felt very good about moving forward with them. That’s one of the main reasons we didn’t sign a veteran point guard. We’ve moved in a direction of playing more point guard basketball this year than we have the last two years. Less with hybrid point guards, more with them."