Mike Miller, finally healthy, could shoot Heat to top again

• Mike Miller is healthy again after years of injuries
• Miami Heat forward was near-perfect in Game 5 of NBA Finals
• His shooting could help lift Heat to another championship

MIAMI — When Erik Spoelstra saw Mike Miller for the first time during the summer, it took the Miami Heat coach a minute to figure out what was different about him.

"You forget he's 6-8 because he's actually standing upright," Spoelstra said of Miller.

Miller no longer is hunched over like an octogenarian hobbling in pain, which is how he looked and felt last season, especially during the playoffs, because of a hernia and a sore back and ankle.

Miller needed assistance from teammates to get off the bench and up from the floor when he went down. He barely could bend over to tie his shoes.

That makes his Game 5 performance in the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder all the more remarkable. Playing in pain, Miller was 7-for-8 on three-point attempts and scored 23 points — one of four Heat players with at least 20 — as Miami won the championship with a 121-106 victory against the Thunder.

When Spoelstra watched Game 5 on video for the first time in late summer, Miller's performance gave him goose bumps.

Miller watched Game 5 with his family a few days after the Finals — because when a shooter is in that kind of zone, the memories of it are hazy.

"I will probably watch it again once we get cranked up to get my juices flowing," Miller said. "I also want to put it behind me, because I know I have stuff ahead of me."

To get back to being healthy, Miller didn't pick up a basketball for more than two months after the Finals. He adopted a rehab program developed by Barth Green, a neurologist who is a spine and back expert. Miller worked on strengthening his core.

"It's just strengthening your core, back and hips. It's all about having stability in your framework," Miller said. "It was the first time in my career — high school, college, all the way to the NBA — that I've actually taken a step away from basketball for a long period of my time. I've learned sometimes it's more important to rest and listen to your body."

He couldn't afford to do that in the playoffs — the Heat still needed something, no matter how small, from Miller. Nearing the end of the first quarter of Game 5 against the Thunder, Miller came off the bench.

"I only planned on playing him four minutes in Game 5. We had to get two guys to pull him up off the baseline," Spoelstra said. "He comes over as I'm throwing him in for the last four minutes of the first quarter, and I said, 'Mike, I know you're hurting. Will you just give me four minutes to get us to the quarter?' "

Miller had other thoughts.

"In the Finals, it was more along the lines of just giving those guys (starters) a break. I knew my time was limited because of the way my body was. I knew I had four minutes. But I told myself going into that game I was going to be aggressive to give them a reason to play me longer."

Miller checked in with 4 minutes, 1 second left in the first quarter. Sixty-eight seconds later he hit all net on a three-point shot from the corner. Sixty-three seconds after that, Miller took a pass from LeBron James on the right wing and let the ball fly. He knew the shot was good — he started backpedaling to play defense before the ball even went through the net.

By the end of the first quarter, there was no way Spoelstra could keep Miller on the bench for the start of the second quarter. Fifty-seven seconds into it, Miller made another three-pointer. With five minutes left in the quarter, Miller took a pass in the left corner from James, who was on his way to a dominant triple-double, and made his fourth three in four attempts, giving the Heat a 51-36 lead.

Miller made three more three-pointers, an amazing shooting display.

He is looking forward to finally playing a full season for Miami. The Heat signed Miller in the summer of 2010 to be their three-point threat, and he is — when healthy. Miller has played in 80 of a possible 148 regular-season games the last two seasons because of injuries.

Now he is as healthy as he has been in two seasons. "I'm completely upright," Miller said of his troublesome back. "I feel good. The only thing is there will be bouts with it. I just need to stay on my rehab routine and make sure when I do go through those things.

"It's one of those things where it's going to continue to be nagging. But as long as I stay on top of it, it should be bearable, for sure."

The Heat don't expect Miller to hit threes as he did in Game 5, but they need him, with Mario Chalmers and newcomers Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, to hit them on a regular basis. That's why they signed Miller in in the summer of 2010. He is a career 40.5% three-point shooter and made 45.3% last season.

The Heat will be thrilled if Miller remains healthy. He is realistic as he enters his 13th NBA season.

"We have something special here," Miller said. "A lot of people believe that. Now it's on us to do our individual jobs.

"That's what it's all about for me now. I've had my good runs and been on teams where I've scored points and made lots of baskets but didn't win championships. Getting on in my career, it's all about winning and whatever I can do to help that."