"The main thing what I'm seeing is he's doing what he needs to make sure that his body is ready for the schedule and for the grind of an NBA schedule," Spoelstra said. "He spends a lot of time in the training room, not only with ice, but with treatments, doing all his corrective exercises, making sure that he has the strong base and flexibility that he did not in the past two or three seasons."

The results, Spoelstra said, have been tangible.

"You can see it, that he's had more pep to his step than he had last year," he said. "He's more athletic. He's quicker on his jumps."

Celtics coach Doc Rivers said he is impressed with Spoelstra's resculpting of veterans such as O'Neal, 31, and forward Quentin Richardson, 29.

"I think Erik has done an amazing job with veteran players," Rivers said, "and convincing them, at this point in their career, that they have to get into great shape. And they've done that."

--Spoelstra said that a factor in Dwyane Wade's struggles to get higher-percentage shots is the team's pace.

"We do not want to play slow," Spoelstra said. "We are not a slow team. Does that mean we're going to fast break like Golden State or Phoenix? Not necessarily. But we do not want to walk or jog up the court. It is allowing the defense to get set, to get multiple defenders in front of him. There's got to be an energy, a pace, an enthusiasm to the way we play offensively."

--After missing four games because of back spasms, Quentin Richardson went through his first contact workout in 10 days on Saturday and was deemed fit to return Sunday.

Spoelstra said he would "ease" the former starting small forward back into the rotation.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "We've got to make sure this is not 10 losses in our minds. We can't panic." -- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, with Sunday's 92-85 loss to the Celtics to be followed by a rugged four-game western swing that includes games against the Trail Blazers, Nuggets, Lakers and Kings.