MIAMI – For the past several weeks, LeBron James has finished up his daily routine at practice by shooting free throws with Ray Allen. Every practice, same thing.

But on Tuesday, things were different.

A day ahead of their Eastern Conference finals matchup against Roy Hibbert and the Indiana Pacers, James was at his normal basket at the Miami Heat’s practice court, but Allen was on another hoop, practicing his 3-point shot on his own. Instead of trading free throws with Allen, James was working with Heat assistant coach David Fizdale and point guard Mario Chalmers on a different shot:

The running floater in the lane.

Yes, the same one he unleashed out of nowhere against Hibbert last playoffs and used to help push the Heat over the top in six games.

James' goal on Tuesday was obvious: to polish his Hibbert arsenal.

“I just dust it off when I need it,” James said of his rarely-seen floater.

This was the first and only day that James has put in extra work on it this season. James started from the top of the key, barreled down the middle of the paint and launched in the air for a floater. He’d do that a few times and then switch angles. Starting from the baseline, James took a dribble on the move and then soared across the lane to drop a running hook. Over and over again.

The only thing that was missing was a 7-foot-2 cardboard cutout standing at the rim.

James knows he’ll need his full repertoire against the Pacers’ front line for this upcoming series. No, the thinking isn’t to only drop floaters in the lane. Rather, it’s to keep Hibbert honest. No more allowing Hibbert to camp out around the rim and wait for intruders. The Heat want Hibbert on the move and guessing.

“He won’t just have one look,” James said after Tuesday’s practice. “We have to be able to give him different looks to keep him off balance.”

James unveiled the crafty shot in the third quarter of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals last season, just minutes after Chris Bosh left the game with an abdominal strain that sidelined him for weeks. James turned the corner after a high pick-and-roll with Udonis Haslem and made his way to the rim as Hibbert sidestepped off Ronny Turiaf to park himself underneath the basket.

That’s where Hibbert waited for James. But instead of trying to shoot through the 7-foot-2 giant, James hopped off two feet halfway into the lane, rose up and tossed the ball high into the air. Swish. From then on, James went to that shot without hesitation, and it proved to be a handy weapon against Hibbert's size.

Remember James' monster Game 4 against the Pacers when he registered 40 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists? James used his devastating floater on multiple occasions in that furious comeback alongside Dwyane Wade, but James also punished the Pacers with 16 free throws. James still attacked the rim and racked up fouls against Hibbert, but he needed the reliable floater to keep Hibbert from getting too comfortable in the paint.

Typically, James will use his otherworldly athleticism and strength to overwhelm his opponent like a wrecking ball. But there will be times when he'll need technique and grace to keep opposing big men on their toes. So for James in this series against Hibbert and the No. 1-ranked defense in the league this season, the key will be variety, not velocity.

James knows Hibbert doesn't want to be dragged away from the basket. He paid close attention to the Knicks-Pacers series and it resonated with him when Hibbert rose up for that iconic block on Carmelo Anthony at the rim in the decisive Game 6 (James called it "a very good block" on Tuesday). James watched every minute of the series during which the Knicks' percentage of shots in the restricted area plummeted from 39.5 percent with Hibbert on the bench to just 30.5 percent with him in the game, according to NBA.com/Stats.

This is the Hibbert effect, and James wants to neutralize it with as many weapons as he can. The floater, you can expect, will be one of them.

MIAMI -- Erik Spoelstra is already in adjustment mode.

The Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers don't play Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals until Wednesday, but the Heat's coach is tweaking at least the narrative entering the best-of-seven series to advance to the NBA Finals.

At one point while facing a series of questions about the improvements the Pacers have made since they lost 4-2 to the Heat in last year's conference semifinals, the Miami coach countered with a progress report on his own team.

“If we're talking about people assuming they're improving from their experience, hopefully, we've improved as well,” Spoelstra said. “They're a very good basketball team. They've grown together. They've been together, their core, for several years. They've been through playoff experiences together. They've added some good pieces that fit their culture. They've developed a philosophy they believe in.”

If Spoelstra's analysis sounds familiar, well, it is.

“We believe we've done the same thing,” he continued, smoothly transitioning the focus to the Heat. “Hopefully, we're much better than the last time we played them. If we're the same team that we were last year, that won't be enough. Period. Fact. And that's why we've spent so much time this year trying to develop habits to improve. We don't feel we're the same team that played the Pacers last year.”

If the Pacers believe they've gained ground on Miami over the past year, the Heat don't feel they've exactly stood still.

For every declaration made about the rapid growth this season of Pacers players Paul George, Lance Stephenson and Roy Hibbert, the Heat respond with the productive additions of Ray Allen and Chris Andersen along with the development of second-year point guard Norris Cole.

And that doesn't even include the steady expansion of LeBron James' overall game this season or the availability of center Chris Bosh, who was injured in the first half of Game 1 last year against Indiana and missed the remainder of the series with a strained lower abdominal muscle.

“Last year was last year [and] both teams are better than they were last year, so we'll see what happens,” James said of anticipating an even more competitive series with the Pacers this time around. “We know it's going to be a challenge for us. We look forward to it. It's the Eastern Conference finals. No matter who you play, you should be locked in. It's one round to go to get to the Finals. So there should be no reason why you're not locked in.”

The matchup between the Heat and Pacers represents the ultimate clash of playing styles, although both teams have adjusted this season to better adapt to the other team's game.

The Heat are bigger and deeper than they were during last season's run to a championship. After shifting virtually on the fly to go with a smaller lineup amid Bosh's absence, Miami signed Andersen in February just for these playoff occasions to provide length and energy off the bench.

Andersen once told Joakim Noah earlier this season the Heat brought him in strictly to match up with the Bulls center. He'll also give the Heat a bigger option, if needed, to complement Bosh and Udonis Haslem in the paint against the 7-2 Hibbert and rugged power forward David West. When the Pacers pummeled the Heat in the first of two double-digit victories in Indiana, West told ESPN.com that his team was much better prepared to face the Heat's frontcourt -- big or small -- this time around.

Meanwhile, Indiana can shift to a smaller and quicker lineup with speedy point guard D.J. Augustin and Stephenson in the backcourt. The Pacers have also added athletic swingmen in Gerald Green and Sam Young to help match up with James and Dwyane Wade on the perimeter. Committed to pushing in transition, the Pacers outscored the Knicks 12-0 in Saturday's series-clinching victory.

The Heat insist they won't be caught off guard by the Pacers, either. It's even grown to the point where Miami's players vehemently resent the notion they seem to struggle against teams with more size and perceived toughness.

“They have their style and we have our style,” Wade said. “At the end of the day, you have to find a way to win playing whatever style the game calls for. We're not the most physical team. We don't have guys that look very physical. But we have guys that understand what it takes to win. Sometimes, we know you have to get into the fight.”

Neither team plans to back down from the physical play that bordered, at times, on roughhousing last season. The Heat and Pacers combined for 276 fouls, seven conduct-related technical fouls, four flagrant fouls and two player suspensions during their six-game series a year ago.

In essence the Heat's series against the Bulls may have served as a warm-up of sorts for what could be coming next. In the 4-1 series win against Chicago, the Heat and Bulls combined for 232 fouls, 14 conduct-related technical fouls, three player ejections and one flagrant foul. The Heat can also draw from their series against the Bulls in the way they handled the opposing team's interior post play.

Bosh said there are similarities between what Chicago presented in Noah and Carlos Boozer at center and power forward and what Indiana has in Hibbert and West.

“They're different players, but I think playing against the Bulls, we've gone against that kind of style, that kind of tandem of a [power forward] and [center], and we've built a good rhythm against that,” Bosh said. “That's nothing we haven't seen. In order to win a championship, these are the teams we're going to have to beat in order to get there.”

Plenty has changed since last season, although both the Heat and Pacers bring back familiar faces and goals.

Indiana has gained confidence and experience.

Miami has added depth and versatility.

Neither plans to give an inch.

“When you have the two best teams in the East, that's exactly the way it should be,” Wade said. “They got better and we got better, too. So let's play.”

The Pacers have the league's most improved player in George.

But the defending champion Heat are staking their own claim as the most improved team.

MIAMI -- As a four-time league MVP and the catalyst for the NBA's defending champions, LeBron James isn't accustomed to having his rhythm disrupted these days.

Good defenders rarely bother him.

Great schemes do little to knock him off his game.

But the only thing to stop James in his tracks recently has been a self-inflicted wound of sorts: His team's dominance so far this postseason. The Miami Heat are 8-1 through two rounds of their best-of-seven playoff series.

And that kind of success requires patience. Plenty of it.

For the second time during these playoffs, the Heat find themselves uncomfortably idle as they await the start of their next series after making quick work of an opponent.

After sweeping Milwaukee in the first round, Miami dispatched short-handed Chicago in five games to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the third straight season. But after enduring a seven-day break between facing the Bucks and the Bulls, the Heat now have a six-day hiatus before they play Game 1 of the conference finals Wednesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Miami could learn its next opponent as early as Saturday, when the Indiana Pacers look to close out the New York Knicks in Game 6 at home. With a win Saturday, the Knicks will force Game 7 at Madison Square Garden on Monday.

After saying he needed at least 24 hours to decompress after a mentally and physically taxing series against Chicago, James declared Friday his body was recharged and ready to play again. But he can only be a spectator.

“I'm not where I need to be as far as getting ready because I don't know who we play,” an already-restless James said Friday. “As far as physically, I could play a game tonight if we had one. I'm ready to go. But mentally, I'm not there yet because I can't hone in on who we're playing just yet.”

The only preference the Heat had in this ordeal was to have been playing on Monday instead of waiting another two days. But the Wednesday start was locked in by the league once the Knicks beat the Pacers in Game 5 on Thursday.

For now, the Heat's priority is to avoid a repeat of the rusty play they carried into their opening game against the Bulls following the previous layoff. Miami's players and coaches on Friday still credited Chicago for playing tough defense and riding momentum to a 93-86 upset in Game 1 of the series.

But there was also an acknowledgment in hindsight that rust and a lack of offensive rhythm also played a much larger role in the loss than the Heat initially let on before rolling off four consecutive wins to put away the Bulls.

Miami scored just 35 points in the first half and shot just 39 percent in that loss to Chicago, but responded two days later with a 37-point win in Game 2 that accounted for both the largest postseason victory in Heat history and the most lopsided loss the Bulls were ever handed in the postseason.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said his staff has examined every step the team took during the previous layoff between playoff games, from how frequently and long practices were held over the break, to what sets were run and how the team executed early in Game 1 against the Bulls. Spoelstra didn't say what exact changes might be made, but the Heat spent Friday's practice on shooting and timing drills.

“It's conditioning, shooting, rhythm, timing, sweating,” said Spoelstra, who gave the team the day off Saturday. “We're day-to-day right now in terms of our planning. You can't cheat the game, so you have to work at it. You're almost a week out from competing again, coming off a very intense series, your natural reaction is to not to want to come in here and get after it and sweat. But you can't shortcut it.”

There aren't any shortcuts to better health, either. Conventional wisdom would suggest that another extended dose of rest would be a good thing for Heat guard Dwyane Wade, who has struggled at times to play through a bruised right knee that's given him problems for two months.

But Wade, who bounced back with his second-best game of the playoffs to help close out the Bulls Wednesday, said he was resigned to the fact that his knee won't get much better regardless of the time off until after the season.

“I'm (still) dealing with this,” Wade said Friday. “I had 10 days off last time, so it really doesn't matter. At this point, we have a month (left) in the season. That's all I'm focusing on. I deal with stuff. I'm mentally strong enough to come out and still be effective, still be able to do what I do.”

Although Miami has shown a propensity to recover from early deficits to win playoff series the past two seasons, Wade doesn't want to keep playing from the same script. The Heat have trailed at some point in six playoff series since 2010 and have rallied to win five of them. The lone exception was the 2011 NBA Finals against Dallas.

In three of those six series, Miami dropped Game 1 and came back to win four straight, which was also the case in the Finals last season on the way to beating Oklahoma City.

“We'll continue to rise to the occasion, no matter who we're playing,” James said. “The stakes are higher now, being in the Eastern Conference finals. Our game will continue to rise, and we have a lot of room for improvement. We had a lot of mental breakdowns the last round we can improve. That's the best thing about our team. We don't really dwell on things we did well. We hate the things we did bad.”

The Heat have a bit more time to nitpick as they wait, and center Chris Bosh can think of a few adjustments.

“You just feel a little off,” Bosh said of initial challenges after a long layoff. “I wouldn't say rusty. You're rusty when you're coming back from the offseason. It's just a mental aspect of dealing with some shots that won't fall that usually go in. We were a step slow on defense, our awareness just wasn't where it was supposed to be. We want to hit the ground running and have a good rhythm this time. We're just going to have to continue to tinker with some things (the next few days) and just figure it out.”

No team has figured out how to get through playoff series faster than the Heat these days. But there's only one problem: They hate to wait.

This rapid postseason progress is really testing their patience.

MIAMI -- Erik Spoelstra laughed at the question.

The coach was asked at Heat practice on Friday if he feels pity for the video coordinators these days. After all, they have to prepare not one, but two, full scouting reports, one for the New York Knicks and one for the Indiana Pacers, because the Heat still don't know who they're playing in the Eastern Conference Finals. Actually, it's possible that the idle Heat won't know who they're playing until Monday night ahead of Game 1, which starts on Wednesday.

The Heat are playing the waiting game, the team's video coordinators and scouting staff are feverishly working double time. But what his "video guys" are dealing with now is nothing, Spoelstra insisted.

Spoelstra has been in their shoes. He started in the Heat organization as a 25-year-old video coordinator back in 1995, working long hours cutting film in the Heat's Dungeon, as the staff affectionately calls it. Since then, he's worn every hat in the coaching staff directory and seen it all when it comes to last-minute prepping.

But this current staff has been been studying up on the Pacers and Knicks since the beginning of May.

You think two teams is bad?

Try five.

"The worst one ever," Spoelstra recalled.

It was back in the 2003-04 season while Spoelstra was the assistant coach to then-head coach Stan Van Gundy. Shortly after graduating from the Dungeon, Spoelstra was in charge of writing the scouting reports for Van Gundy and the rest of the coaching staff, as well as a separate one for the players.

Spoelstra never saw it coming, really. That season, the Heat had started 0-7 and hadn't even reached .500 until the last week of the regular season. After a mad dash to finish the season (winning 17 of their final 22 games), Spoelstra instructed his video and scouting staff to prepare for the seventh seed or eighth seed.

"I prepared A-to-Z, four of the teams of highest probability, ranging from 60 percent to 90 percent probability that we'd play them. We had the books, video, everything," Spoelstra said as he pretended to lock up a safe.

"Turn the key, done."

On the final night of the regular season, four teams -- the Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Hornets, New York Knicks -- jockeyed for position in the playoff picture as the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh seeds were up for grabs.

The Heat beat the New Jersey Nets by 12 points in the final game of the season to finish with a lukewarm 42-40 record. After the win, the coaching staff hurried down to the Dungeon to watch the end of Toronto-Milwaukee game, which would decide their playoff fate. Of countless scenarios entering the day, it all hinged on this one game.

If the Raptors beat the Bucks, the Heat would net the fourth seed and play the Hornets. If the Bucks beat the Raptors, the Heat would be the fifth seed and play the Bucks.

Sure enough, Toronto's Jalen Rose hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with five seconds to go, but the Bucks had one more opportunity to get the fourth seed. Michael Redd, playing at the time for the Bucks, missed a last-second 27-footer.

Buck lose, Heat nab the fourth seed to play the Hornets.

This would normally be a time for unbridled celebration for the coaching staff, right? Only one problem: the Hornets weren't one of the four teams that Spoelstra selected. They weren't even on Spoelstra's radar.

"There was a 1 percent probability of that happening," Spoelstra said. "I hadn’t watched one second of film of New Orleans."

They needed a fifth book. Instead of rejoicing, the whole room groaned. Except for one guy.

"As soon as it happened, Stan just started laughing," Spoelstra said with a grin. "He walked out and said, 'Have a good night!'"

And with that, Spoelstra and his staff crammed an entire week's worth of scouting in one night -- or early morning, you could say. Spoelstra had to watch the film, write up the scouting reports on each Hornets player and scout their entire playbook. Deadline was 1 o'clock the next afternoon in time for a coaches meeting, which was 13 hours away.

Of course, Spoelstra got it done. He had already written four 20-page books that week. What's one more?

"I think I was up 50 straight hours," Spoelstra said.

Dozens of copies of those four books, hundreds and hundreds of pages all gone to waste. How many trees did they kill?

"Put it this way: We recycle now," Spoelstra said. "I’m from Oregon. I ethically had a problem throwing away that much paper. Now we have a big green bin, and it's mostly digital anyway."

Video coordinators these days, they don't know how good they have it.

"Two teams over the course of two weeks?" Spoelstra said. "Nah, that's easy."