MIAMI – It was a great day in Miami, hovering in the 80s.

That was the temperature, not the size of the Dallas Mavericks' lead, although it was difficult to tell the difference when they were done brutalizing the soft-shell Miami Heat, 98-73, on Sunday evening at American Airlines Arena.

This isn't your daddy's Heat. Or even Dwyane Wade's or Shawn Marion's – both are out with injuries. Even the NCAA would bypass the Heat at this point.

So the Mavericks did what they had to do. They rambled out to leads of 9-0 and 19-2 and never looked back. They completed a five-game trip through the Eastern Conference dregs with a spotless record, beating all five by at least 19 points and drumming up what confidence they can for more important matters this week.

They play the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, Boston on Thursday and San Antonio on Saturday. It's an important stretch.

With their five-game winning streak, they are 21 games over .500 (44-23) for the first time this season. They remain in seventh place in the West, 2 ½ games behind first-place Houston. With three wins this week, it's not farfetched to think the Mavericks will rise in the West.

"They understand," Avery Johnson said of his players. "They know what's happening in the standings. They know who won last night and who lost. It's ignited them.

"Everybody's talking about everybody else except us. We're just working on our game. Whatever happens, we still got a shot. Our team has a lot of renewed energy and emotion. And I saw it in the losses, not just the win."

It's been nothing but wins lately as the Mavericks have done a superlative job leading up to their judgment week, getting through five tedious games without a hiccup.

The Heat broke out their black road uniforms with the words "EL HEAT" across the front, a tribute to the Latin-culture festival going on in South Florida.

As one local paper suggested, it should have been printed "L, HEAT."

By halftime, the Mavericks were up 52-30. That marked the fewest points the Mavericks have surrendered in a half this season. It was also a Heat low for the year.

"Let's hope we can do the same thing against these big boys," said Dirk Nowitzki, who had 21 points and only had to put in 25 minutes of court time. "We've done a really nice job these last four games. We still have some adjusting to do with Jason [Kidd]. We feel like we can fly under the radar and get better from game to game."

There are 15 games left, with seven of them on the road. The Mavericks have what figure to be their three hardest home games this week, although visits from Utah and New Orleans in the last week of the season will be great tests.

For now, they have done what was needed.

"It bought us some time," Jason Terry said of the past week. "And we needed some time to get the new guys acclimated and work on some things and put those things into play."

AP

Joel Anthony of the Miami Heat has his shot blocked by Erick Dampier (right) of the Dallas Mavericks.

Terry reiterated that, while three of the teams above them in the West are coming to town, it's not something they can afford to look at as a body of work.

Kidd agreed.

"On the schedule, it's a competitive week," he said. "But all we can do is look at the Lakers. We play them on Tuesday, and that's what we have to look at. We can't be concerned with the other teams."

Added Nowitzki: "We feel like we were right there when we played those teams on the road. Hopefully at home, we're going to be more comfortable down the stretch and the confidence is higher now with Jason. We feel at home we should be ready to get those stops and those big points we need down the stretch to win those games."

Or, they can just treat them like so many more Eastern Conference bottom-feeders and beat them by 20-something.

"That would be nice too," Nowitzki said.