When last we saw the Miami Heat, they were a team taking stock of themselves after an opening night pounding against the Celtics. “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” LeBron James said after the game. Generic clichés aside, King James had a point, even if most of the world would like to see him make like Nero and fiddle away while the burgeoning empire burns.

Their offense felt like it had been drawn up on the whiteboard a few minutes before tip. Dwyane Wade was out of sync after missing most of the preseason with a hamstring injury and Chris Bosh looked overmatched against Kevin Garnett.

Now, a little over two weeks later, the Heat are once again trying to figure things out heading into a matchup with the Celtics. It’s a referendum game of sorts, but not for the C’s. Miami is the team with something to prove.

In between a string of impressive victories, including a blowout win over Orlando, the Heat lost to New Orleans and allowed Emeka Okafor, who will never be mistaken for Hakeem Olajuwon, to shoot 12-for-13. On Tuesday, they lost to Utah when Paul Millsap scored 46 points and made three 3-pointers, one more than he had made in his entire career.

It wasn’t lost on anyone that all three of their losses have come against teams with the three best point guards in the sport: Rajon Rondo, Chris Paul and Deron Williams. But that may be more circumstantial than incriminating.

The other common denominator in those losses? Bosh, who was badly outplayed in all three games. Incredibly, he had just one rebound against the Hornets.

Bosh is already talking like a confused player. He told the Miami Herald, “We have a system but at the same time when the game is happening so fast, sometimes I just get lost. I don't know whether to cut, whether to go, whether to get back and playing with those two talented guys . . . it happens real fast.”

So, there’s that.

Already words like ‘soft’ and ‘fraud’ are being tossed around about Bosh, as well as the usual outlandish trade proposals, but if the first eight games have taught us anything, it’s that hyperbole is never in short supply when it comes to Miami. Every game is watched, scrutinized and dissected to such a degree that every loss signals the accompanying panic alarm, and shouts of joy from certain sectors.

From a distance, the Celtics, Lakers and Magic just nod and say, “Welcome to the club.”

Yet buried beneath the layers of noise, some fundamental truths are starting to emerge about the Heat. Wade and James, for example, are who we thought they were and as they continue to work things out on the court it’s becoming apparent that they won’t stand in each other’s way.

On the other hand, Bosh has quickly become the focal point for anything and everything that goes wrong. In a sense Bosh can’t win. Unless an injury happens, he’s not going to get anything close to the 22 and 10 lines he put up so routinely in Toronto.

Still, he has yet to assert himself on offense and how he learns to deal with that pressure, and adjust his game accordingly, may hold the key to their long-term success.

But while it will take some time for the Heat to develop, it shouldn’t be lost that they are already very good. Here are three key early season trends.

MIAMI IS AN EXCELLENT DEFENSIVE TEAM

The Heat rank second in points allowed and defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) and they’re third in field goal percentage defense. They’re not a dominant rebounding team (see: Bosh), but they are in the top quarter of the league.

Where they struggle, and that’s a relative term, is defending the pick and pop game. Again, Bosh is taking the lion’s share of the criticism in that regard and he will have his hands full with Garnett on Thursday.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra seems to be operating under the assumption that the offense will come along in due time, but the defense will be a constant. There are worse ways to start an experiment like this, but if improvements aren’t made the long shadow of Pat Riley will begin to emerge. 

THE BENCH IS GOOD ENOUGH

When Mike Miller went down with a thumb injury, there was concern that the Heat wouldn’t have the depth to sustain his loss. But much like Danny Ainge stockpiled big men in the offseason, Riley made sure to have plenty of shooters on the wing.

Enter James Jones, a veteran marksman who is making 50 percent of his shots from behind the arc (24-for-48). Jones and old friend Eddie House have taken more 3’s than everyone else on the roster and Jones has made more than James has even attempted.

Those two, plus Zydrunas Ilgauskus and rugged forward Udonis Haslem make up the core of the team’s second unit. Ilgauskus can still knock down perimeter shots with the best of them and Haslem provides rebounding muscle up and a measure of toughness up front.

The truth is the Heat don’t need a dynamic, game-changing reserve unit. They need complimentary players who do certain things well, namely shooting and rebounding. Another big couldn’t hurt, but you could say the same thing about almost every team.

THE POINT GUARD IS IRRELEVANT

Here’s what you need to know about Carlos Arroyo, the quote, un-quote point guard. He’s playing 23 minutes a night, which is almost exactly what he played last season. He’s shooting roughly the same percentage on the same amount of shots and using roughly the same amount of possessions as he did in 2009-10.

The Heat don’t need Arroyo to be a playmaker because James is handling that just fine. There might have been a temptation to assume that there would be an on-court power struggle between Wade and James. After all, it’s not every day a team adds a two-time MVP to a squad that already has an established franchise player. But the reality is their games match up quite well.

James is averaging 8.6 assists per game, while Wade is deftly assuming the heavy scoring load at over 27 points a night. What they haven’t figured out yet is who takes over when things go wrong. Who assumes responsibility when the game is on the line?

That’s the fundamental difference between the Heat and Celtics right now. Miami is working through the process, to steal one of Doc Rivers’ pet phrases, while the Celtics are far enough along where they can experiment in end-game situations by putting the ball in Rondo’s hands.

As they take the court Thursday, it’s best to remember that both teams have eyes on April. The difference is that the Celtics know who they are, while Miami is still in the discovery phase.