Forget about it. The Heat went into San Antonio and got blown out of the gym. The Spurs welcomed Tony Parker back to the lineup much faster than the original diagnosis of his calf injury. After one quarter of play, San Antonio had already built a 24-point advantage. Miami cut the advantage to 12 at halftime, but it was more of the same out of the break.

The Spurs hit 17-of-28 three-point attempts, including six from 6-foot-10 forward/center Matt Bonner. By game’s end, eight Spurs were in double figures, led by 20 from Manu Ginobili. Parker added 15 points and eight assists in his return to the court (+31).

As for the Heat, LeBron James posted a fantastic fantasy night (26 points on 11-of-19 shooting, 8 rebounds and 7 assists), as did Chris Bosh, who nabbed 14 rebounds to go along with 17 points. When things got tight(er), the Spurs found an answer and immediately stretched the lead. The Heat were unable to respond.

I wrote about the Heat’s loss on Thursday as a potential problem psychologically with a long, difficult streak of games against playoff-ready opponents ahead. Forget about the fact that they took another “L” against San Antonio. That was expected on the road. They got housed.

Meanwhile, the Bulls came into Orlando and pulled off a road win to take the second spot in the East.

LeBron might be spending a lot of time with the Knicks after all … as the Heat would take on New York in the first round if the playoffs started today. David Stern just struck his Montgomery Burns “Excellent” pose.

The Heat built a seemingly insurmountable lead in Miami on Thursday night. The only question as the third quarter began was the margin of victory. Miami led by 24 points following a James dunk when things turned around. Jason Richardson and Ryan Anderson paced the comeback, and Dwight Howard dominated the glass.

James and Chris Bosh missed last-second three-point attempts after J.J. Redick drained two free throws to give the Magic a three-point lead with just under 10 second remaining.

Some would believe this to be just another bump in the road to James’ coronation following a win in the NBA Finals, but there’s a larger issue at play. Remember, the Heat failed to sustain a huge lead in their last home game against the Knicks. They built a 15-point lead, but collapsed late. In fact, Miami has dropped three of their last four games (including a road game in Chicago) and four of their past seven.

The next two weeks present a number of challenges. This was the first game of a back-to-back with a roadie in San Antonio on tap for Friday night. Then, the Heat opens a six-game homestand.

Look at the opponents: Chicago, Portland, Los Angeles (Lakers), Memphis, San Antonio and Oklahoma City.

For those keeping score at home —- that’s seven straight playoff opponents. Oh, wait. Add a road date in Atlanta and a home tilt against the Nuggets and you’re looking at nine straight would-be playoff opponents, including five upper-seed foes (top 4 in each conference).

Chicago has a more advantageous schedule down the stretch and sits just 1.5 games behind the Heat for second in the East.

Will James reign?

“You can see the frustration on Phil Jackson’s face because he knows what’s happening.”

When asked point blank if Phoenix would win Game 4, Donaghy responded with this: “I’m not saying it’s a definite thing, but they’ll get the benefit of the calls.”

“It’s obvious how the referees are trained and programmed to put the teams that are down in the series at an advantage.”

Sigh. The home team got aggressive and drove the ball to the hoop. They didn’t settle for jumpshots and tried to force the action against the wounded Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. They did the same thing on Tuesday night. Bynum scored 12 points with eight rebounds, while Gasol added 15 points and five boards.

Look at the difference in the Los Angeles offense. They shot 33 three-point shots combined in games 1 and 2. In the past two games in Phoenix, the Lakers chucked up 60 three-point shots (connecting on 30%). They out-shot the Suns marginally on Tuesday overall, but Phoenix amassed 19 more all-important foul shots (15 more makes).

You go into the box score and you also see another couple troubling notes for the Lakers. The Lakers were -16 with Bynum on the court and -21 in Shannon Brown’s 13:38 of action. Brutal.

Donaghy claims that he was told to manipulate games and in pre-game meetings, told what to call and what to look for in games. He did clarify those statements to explain that he was never explicitly ordered to produce a specific outcome, although it had been implied.

He’s basically equating the NBA to soap operas and the WWE. You know it’s scripted. You get sucked into the drama, anyway. I guess Donaghy’s next book will have a chapter or two about the league’s partnership with TNT. “We know drama.” I want an investigation about the hours of “Law & Order” re-runs that I’m losing to NBA coverage, too.

Seriously, the whispers have always been there. The frozen envelope for the Knicks. The 2008 NBA Draft Lottery win by the Bulls … and countless other examples are cited. Fire up the telestrators and game film and we can find 1,000,000 uncalled traveling violations, big men camping in the lane for a week, palming, push-offs, “dirty” screens and touch fouls that altered substitution rotations and game flow.

I do appreciate that everyone remembers the lesson out of Woodward & Bernstein: “Follow the money.” I do.

Do I believe that the league would like to see Los Angeles and Boston battle again? There’s no question about it. With most of the stars still around from that historic rivalry (just find an online feed for an LA or Boston radio station), you’re likely to run into one of them.

I get the basic economic principles at play. More games equals more butts in seats, ad sales, marketing opportunities and so on …

Do I believe that David Stern is working an invisible hand to manipulate the outcomes of games? No chance. There’s enough human error in trying to keep up and call 48 minutes of activity with some of the greatest athletes in sports. There are enough bang-bang plays to force quick decisions. Superstars get calls. That’s the nature of sport.

- In baseball, hitters or pitchers get the call on the edges based on their histories. Just ask Boggs or Maddux.
- In football, established linemen rarely get called for a hold, even if they’re mauling the charging defender. Established receivers get to put to push-off a bit and rarely get an offensive PI call.
- I need only one word here. QUARTERBACKS
- The referee looks the other way when the manager throws a foreign object into the ring.

Wait. That last one isn’t helping my point.

“Follow the money.” A direct link back to Commissioner Stern sees that money walking over to another sport and his work toward global domination swirling down the drain.

Might Donaghy eventually be tagged as basketball’s Jose Canseco? You know what I mean. He’s a man with questionable motives looking to sell a tell-all book and generating controversy. Canseco’s allegations have proven true time and again. Will Donaghy’s? He predicted a Suns win in Game 4 and got his W. Predicting games on a national radio/tv show, as Mr. Patrick pointed out, seemed to be a dubious move, but Donaghy did it nonetheless. In this case, he’ll need more corroboration from other officials and executives or a paper trail or positive drug tests as were obtained in the Major League Baseball inquiries.

I have to ask this … if David Stern was operating things in the matter Donaghy suggested, why wouldn’t the calls have shifted in the Lakers’ direction in light of his radio appearance? Wouldn’t the Commissioner flip a double-bird in the air to Donaghy and call off the Code Red? Don’t tell me that the hotline didn’t ring in the Commissioner’s office once Donaghy’s segment began to air. He’s ever-vigilant about his brand.

Now, push that aside for a minute. I do have a bone to pick with the Commissioner’s office about collecting checks from owners and front office folks (Mark Cuban and Steve Kerr) while chiming in about his desired destination for King James. I’ll save that rant for tomorrow.