CLEVELAND -- Reality smacked Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade right in the face on Thursday night.

So did former teammate Shaquille O’Neal, but his blows didn’t hurt nearly as much as the psychological damage the Cleveland Cavaliers inflicted in a 102-86 rout of Miami.

"Their team is just better than us right now," Wade said matter-of-factly. "You just have to be realistic. I am that.

"I understand (Cleveland) has championship aspirations. We don’t. We’re focusing on trying to get to the playoffs. Their team is trying to get to the championship. It’s totally different."

The Heat played very well early this season and has kept a stiff upper lip throughout -- insisting it could make a deep playoff push in the Eastern Conference -- but its resolve is clearly weakening.

For that, Miami can thank the Cavaliers, who started the Heat’s slide by rallying for a one-point victory at AmericanAirlines Arena on January 25. Cleveland superstar LeBron James badly outplayed Wade in the fourth quarter of that game, scoring the tying and go-ahead points after stealing the ball from his good friend with 6.9 seconds left.

Miami has won just once in six tries since, falling from fifth place in the East to the eighth and final postseason spot.

"We’re going through a tough stretch right now, no question about it," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We did not have the requisite fight to really make this a game.

"This is where you have to show team resiliency. The only way to get out of this is to fight out of it, and you can’t fight out of it any other way but doing it collectively."

Not only did Miami show very little fight on this evening, it allowed itself to be bullied by O’Neal, who teamed with Wade to lead the Heat to the 2006 NBA championship.

"Shaq Fu" clobbered the player he once dubbed "Flash" on a drive to the basket, then delivered several hard shots later in the contest.

Wade’s nose was bloodied after one such collision, but the officials remained silent, proving the old adage "no blood, no foul" isn’t always true.

"I played with him for four years, so I pretty much know what he’s going to do -- especially with the ‘Euro step,’" O’Neal said. "I just tried to be there a couple of times and stand straight up, and hopefully they don’t call a foul."

The officials didn’t, sending Wade to the foul line exactly twice, both coming on “and one” baskets. He finished with 24 points, shooting just 11-of-26 from the field and seldom venturing into the paint in the second half.

James, meanwhile, was aggressive from start to finish and went 17-of-21 from the foul line in a 36-point performance. The reigning NBA MVP added seven rebounds, eight assists and two steals, but said he empathized with Wade.

"I feel for anybody that has to run into Shaq because I’ve had a few collisions with him in my time, so I know what that feels like," James said. "(What happened tonight) was just business, nothing personal. He’s one of my closest friends and we’ll always be that way."

And so, the Cavaliers move forward, having completed a three-game season sweep of Miami in resounding fashion.

The Heat, however, is headed in the opposite direction, but Wade said he’ll keep an eye on James -- even as their teams move farther apart in the standings.

"LeBron gets better every year," Wade said. "Last year, he played awesome, so I can’t say this is the best, but he’s playing just as good. He’s playing phenomenally, he’s playing MVP basketball. That’s what you expect out of him."

Dulik is a columnist for Pro Basketball News and has covered the NBA since 1996. He can be reached at brisports@hotmail.com