Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade (left) and Chris Bosh talk to each other during practice at the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami earlier this year. (El Nuevo Herald/MCT)

By Jason Lieser/The Palm Beach Post (MCT)

It will be a long process for the Heat to blend their cast of newcomers into a contender, but the core of Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and Luol Deng is coming together quickly.

Bosh and Deng scored 18 points each in limited minutes during Miami’s 108-101 overtime preseason loss to the Magic on Tuesday, and Wade looked like he was full speed while adding 11. The Heat left AmericanAirlines Arena shortly after the game to board a flight to Brazil, where they get their first shot at LeBron James and Cleveland on Saturday.

Miami rookie Shabazz Napier, getting his first taste of NBA pressure, made two free throws with 2.2 seconds in regulation to take the lead. Orlando’s Maurice Harkless answered with a quick jumper on the next possession to send it to overtime.

The Heat shot 3-for-10 in OT as Orlando pulled away with the win.

While there was plenty of drama at that stage of the game, the most important work took place much earlier. Deng was excellent at both ends of the court and already seems to be developing chemistry with Wade, who found him in the right corner for an open 3-pointer late in the second quarter.

“Deng’s doing great right now,” Bosh said. “He’s still in the wrong spots a little bit, but that’s gonna come with time. He’s used to playing a certain way, and we have a different system here. He’s made big strides since the last game.”

Bosh moved on from a frustrating shooting night in Saturday’s opener to hit 7 of 13 from the field, though he was 0-for-3 on 3-pointers. He added nine rebounds and a blocked shot.

Bosh, Wade and Deng are fixtures in the starting lineup, leaving two other spots for coach Erik Spoelstra to determine. Josh McRoberts likely will be the power forward, but he has yet to play because of ongoing pain from offseason toe surgery. Shawne Williams started in that spot Tuesday and had four points on 1-for-7 shooting with four rebounds in 20 minutes.

Spoelstra remains undecided, at least publicly, on his starting point guard and went with Norris Cole over Mario Chalmers in the lineup Tuesday.

“I’m looking at a lot of things,” Spoelstra said. “I wouldn’t look too much into it because ‘Rio is a big, big piece of what we’re trying to do.”

Cole got started with a drive to the paint and a perfect dump-off pass to Chris Bosh for a layup. He was not much of a factor scoring-wise, but showed poise with four assists and no turnovers in the first half.

Cole finished with two points, six assists and zero turnovers in 26 minutes. Chalmers scored 10 points, but shot 2 of 8 to get there and had two turnovers with no assists.

Wade credited Cole for being “very solid and getting us into our offense.”

Chalmers’ overall résumé makes him the favourite, but there are no guarantees after his meltdown in the playoffs last season. Cole came into training camp in better shape than ever and was set on wresting the starting job from Chalmers.

Deeper in the rotation, James Ennis continued his emergence as a fan favourite with a steal and breakaway dunk at the start of the second quarter, then hit a contested 3-pointer near the end of the game. He keyed Miami’s comeback late in regulation and finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes.