MIAMI -- Miami Heat fans are already warming up for the Oct. 30 regular-season opener against the rival Boston Celtics.
NBA scrimmages are normally filled with nothing but cheers, but there was some booing Wednesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. That happened when two women late in the first half walked by in the stands, one wearing a Ray Allen No. 20 Celtics jersey and the other a Celtics Rajon Rondo No. 9.
That commotion compelled Heat guard Dwyane Wade to get on the public-address system at halftime. He addressed the 11,221 fans in attendance at the team's annual free scrimmage.
"Will all Celtics fans please exit the building," Wade, who didn't play Wednesday in order to rest his surgically repaired left knee, said as teammate LeBron James cracked up.
As for Rondo, obviously any sight of his jersey does not bring smiles in Miami. But what about fans wearing Allen's Celtics jersey to Heat games?
Allen, of course, now plays for the Heat. And he has switched to his old No. 34.
"We got enough Ray Allen Heat jerseys," James said. "They don't need to wear a Celtics Ray Allen jersey. But if it's a Ray Allen jersey, I don't mind."
James sure did a flip-flop. But even Allen is torn.
"You're supporting the player, so I'm kind of mixed," Allen said. "I'm curious how much more of that we'll get throughout the year... (The woman with Allen's No. 20 jersey) should have put (the one wearing Rondo's No. 9) to the side and said, 'We need to boo this one, not the 20."'
As for guy on the court wearing Allen on the back, nobody was booing him. Playing for the first time in front of Miami fans since bolting the Celtics to the Heat last July as a free agent, the shooting guard looked good.
Allen shot 5-of-11, including 3-of-7 from three point range, for 13 points. He didn't look like a 37-year-old guy out there.
"He doesn't even look fatigued," said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra. "I mentioned to one of the coaches (doing scrimmage substitutions), 'Make sure you sub for Ray so he's not going the whole four quarters, playing the entire game.' (The coach) said, 'Does he even look tired?' I said, 'No, but we got to get him out to at least rest his legs.'"
Allen didn't look like a guy who had offseason ankle surgery. He said he's feeling as good as he has since he lit up the Heat for 28 points for Boston last December at Miami.
"It has to be the weather," Allen said.
The weather must be good for three-point shooters in South Florida. In a 69-57 win by the Red over the White in a 40-minute game in which players switched sides, the Heat made 14 three-pointers.
Among the other top marksman, Shane Battier shot 4-of-7 and Mike Miller 3-of-8. Even center Chris Bosh was 2-of-3 en route to a scrimmage-high 19 points.
"I think so," Bosh said when asked if a contest between three-point shooters on the Heat would be as exciting as the one they hold during All-Star Weekend. "I think we have some of the best three-point shooters in the world."
Miami also has James Jones, who once won the contest during All-Star Weekend, and Rashard Lewis, once a potent big-man threat from the perimeter. But Jones was 0-of-3 Wednesday on long shots and Lewis was 0-of-5.
After Allen, Lewis was the Heat's second big free-agent acquisition during the offseason. Overall, he shot 1-of-9, although he did have a scrimmage-high nine rebounds.
"Most definitely," Lewis, who took plenty of time off during the summer to rest his often-ailing knees, said about believing he will shoot better once he gets his legs stronger. "This is really when everybody gets their legs (back)."
Regardless of whether Lewis, who shot 23.9 percent from three-point range last season to drop his career percentage to 38.8, can regain his former stroke, the Heat have plenty of three-point possibilities. James talked about how they might play at times with one big man inside and four guys outside.
"It's almost like how Orlando was with Dwight (Howard), you just surround him with so many shooters, you don't know what to do," said James, who 15 points in the scrimmage while looking mostly to get others involved. "It's going to be a good problem with us."
James said the big guy inside sometimes will be him.
"Me either," James cracked when it was suggested that few thought James, once mostly a perimeter player, ever would have that role. "But we can do it."
Having No. 34 outside shooting three-pointers certainly will help the Heat get cheers. As for those wearing Allen's old No. 20 in the stands, that might be a different story.
Chris Tomasson can be reached at christomasson@hotmail.com or on Twitter @christomasson
