So who is feeling toasty bottoms these days?

Tony Sparano?

Or Jack Del Rio?

That’s an easy question to answer.

Mr. Sparano is feeling the heat, and it has nothing to do with the humidity down in the 305 area code.

To no one’s surprise, Bill Cowher has come up as a possible replacement for Sparano, the embattled coach of a team going nowhere except as a prime contender in the Suck for Luck sweepstakes.

It’s the inevitable nature of the NFL. It’s a “week-to-week business,” as Tampa Bay Bucs tight end Kellen Winslow told me a while back, but it’s also a business in which everyone is judged by their cumulative body of work.

Sparano’s Dolphins are 0-6 this year, the pièce de résistance coming in a humiliating 18-15 home loss to the Denver Broncos and Tim Tebow last Sunday. Timmy was awful for the first 55 minutes or so, and amazing in the last five, when he led Denver to two touchdowns and a two-point conversion to force overtime.

Dolphins players have since admitted they were in the wrong scheme to stop the two-point conversion, an odd true confession since everybody in the stadium knew that the quarterback draw was probably going to be the go-to play with Tebow in the shotgun.

The overtime loss fueled the Legend of Tebow as a Comeback King, and cemented Sparano’s label as the King of Pain.

The Dolphins aren’t commenting on the report from CBS Sports, which indicates that “intermediaries for the Miami Dolphins have contacted people close to Cowher about coaching the team.”

Hasta la Vista. Sparano is as good as gone.

The building speculation and week-to-week misery to make a man start talking to himself.

“I talk to myself a lot,” Sparano said Monday. “I spend a lot of time doing that. I figure if I talk to myself nobody usually answers back. That’s a good thing. If they start answering back, that’s a bad thing. But honestly, I guess the way I keep myself upbeat is I just like competing, I really do and we got another opportunity this week.”

Unfortunately, he is Dead Man Walking. It’s just a matter of when the announcement comes. The Dolphins have scored no more than 16 points in the last four games, and show no signs of any spirited resurrection.

Sparano is a good man simply caught up in the business of the NFL. Assuming Sparano gets fired, Bill Parcells should be a stand-up guy and share the blame. He is the former “architect” of this team, and the list of lame player moves — Pat White, John Nalbone, Shawn Murphy, Pat Turner, letting go of Chad Pennington — needs noting in any goodbye piece about Sparano.

But you can’t fire a guy who quit, leaving Sparano as the guy who must go.

On the flip side, Del Rio’s Jaguars may have staved off his eventual fate with their inspired victory against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football that ended a five-game losing streak. The upset allows Del Rio — who hears “embattled” every time his name is mentioned — to sleep a little easier this week. But not by much. I still think he’s toast, even though he probably gets to ride out the rest of the season.

As for Mr. Sparano, I’m surprised the Mayflower people haven’t come knocking with the brown boxes.

“We get to go to New York again and we get to be measured again,” Sparano said about facing the Giants this week. “I might be the only one in this room that believes that, but I don’t think I’m the only one in that room that believes it. “

Sparano is right about one thing: He is the only guy in the room who believes.

It’s the battle cry of a lonesome loser, about to be unemployed.

gdiaz@tribune.com Read George Diaz’s blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/enfuego

From his seat, whether at an exhibition game or the NBA finals,
Pat Riley has remained largely stoic this season. His expression
hardly changes, no matter the situation.

But now, the Miami Heat president confesses, the truth can come
out: It’s all a front.

“It’s a harrowing type of thing, when you truly care about
winning,” he said this week.

Fortunately for Riley, this Heat team has won more
regular-season and playoff games than any other in franchise
history, 71 and counting heading into Thursday night’s Game 2 of
the NBA finals against the Dallas Mavericks. The Heat held a 1-0
lead in the best-of-seven series, trying for their second title
after topping the Mavericks in six games in 2006.

Riley masterminded that run and has been the chief orchestrator
for everything since. Miami went from the top of the NBA to the
bottom two years later, winning only 15 games in an injury-plagued
2007-08 season that would be the Riley’s coaching finale.
Structuring contracts a certain way then allowed the Heat to spend
freely last summer when retaining Dwyane Wade and adding LeBron
James, Chris Bosh and others that have Riley on the cusp of another
title.

“I think a community develops a covenant with its team
throughout the course of a season, good or bad,” Riley said. “The
year that I won 15 games, as much as they disliked it, I really
believed they were there in support of the team and they hoped that
one day, that we knew enough about what we had to do to get to a
day like this today.”

Here they are. If the Heat pull this off, it would be Riley’s
eighth ring: He has five as a head coach, one as an assistant, one
as a player.

“I need a few of those,” James said last summer, when one key
detail of his recruiting meeting with Riley came out.

By now, it’s almost a part of Heat lore. Riley _ a winner of
1,210 regular-season games and a three-time NBA coach of the year _
took his rings, put them in a pouch and dropped the bag on a table
in front of James while trying to woo him to Miami. The message
couldn’t have been more simple, a Hall of Fame coach teasing a
future Hall of Fame player with the jewelry he covets most.

Call it a unique form of motivation, which is one of Riley’s
many calling cards.

“If you know Pat, you go into his office, he calls you in there,
and it’s like talking to the Godfather,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra
said. “The lights are always dim. He can see you, but you can’t
really see him.”

Spoelstra is the latest Riley pupil become an NBA coaching
success story, from the most modest of NBA beginnings, working in
the Heat video room in the mid-1990s and unsure if his boss knew
his name. Riley watched Spoelstra rise through the franchise as an
assistant, then picked him as his coaching successor in 2008.

In some ways, that’s been both a blessing and a curse. Even this
week, as the NBA finals were set to begin, Spoelstra was asked if
Riley was calling all the team’s shots. The topic comes up on a
fairly regular basis, and earlier this season it was widely
speculated Riley may have to return to the bench and save Miami
after the Heat got off to a 9-8 start.

On this point, the Heat are very clear: That was never, ever
going to happen.

“I use Pat as a resource as much as I possibly can,” Spoelstra
said. “I think all the other elements are the ones that I’m more
fascinated with. He’s a walking motivational leadership speaker,
and he can pontificate about so many other elements outside of X’s
and O’s. Those are usually our discussions, about how to motivate,
how to manage personalities, how to lead, these type of things that
usually cost people $50,000 to get that type of advice. I just have
to go down the hall and knock on the door.”

It’s believed Riley makes $50,000, or more, when he speaks to
corporations about how to succeed.

On that topic, he would seem to be a bit of an expert.

He’s written books on the subject, he still finds ways to relay
that knowledge to players and he oversees every element of the
basketball-operations side of the Heat, right down to which
motivational quotes will be etched on the walls leading from their
locker room. Even this week, when Riley appeared at an NBA Cares
event and touched the league’s championship trophy, a slew of Heat
players in attendance took immediate notice.

“Coach Riley is very inspirational,” Wade said. “He’s in the
background, but he’s around often and when he talks, you listen
because of his knowledge of the game. And also, he’s a leader. He’s
the leader of this organization and we respect him. I think he’s
done a great job of putting together a pretty good team and coming
in at the right times when he feels the need to be able to express
himself.”

Riley retired in name only. The only thing he really gave up is
patrolling the sideline on game nights.

He’s at just about every practice, usually flanked by team owner
Micky Arison and other team executives, sitting off to the side.
He’s known for sneaking up on players when they least expect it and
engaging them in conversations, just telling them what he sees on
the floor. And he keeps an extremely low profile now, trying to not
overshadow Spoelstra and the coaching staff. He rarely gives
interviews anymore.

Still, when he speaks, it resonates. Riley told fans last season
that the Heat were trying to put together “a dynasty,” and that
video on the team’s website sent season-ticket demand skyrocketing.
Then he did his part to back up that boast, landing the three
most-wanted free agents in last summer’s NBA player-movement
bonanza.

“Having him around is amazing,” James said. “To be able to go to
someone if need be, and it’s not always just about basketball, it’s
about anything. We’re blessed to have him around. This organization
is blessed to have him, period.”

___

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DeMar DeRozan scored 17 points in Toronto’s loss to Milwaukee earlier this week. (Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Miami Heat have secured the second seed in the Eastern Conference, though it’s hardly been a smooth ride. They know it won’t get any easier in the playoffs.

Miami closes out an eventful regular season when it visits the short-handed Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.

The Heat (57-24) defeated Atlanta 98-90 on Monday to assure themselves of the No. 2 seed, locking them into a first-round matchup with Philadelphia.

Despite 34 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists from LeBron James, the Hawks nearly erased a 20-point deficit while playing mostly reserves.

“Sometimes it’s not pretty, but we’re doing the little things necessary to win,” said Dwyane Wade, who scored 21 points. “That’s what will matter in the playoffs, because some games won’t be so pretty.”

That certainly was the case at times during a regular season marked by sky-high expectations. Miami started 9-8 and endured a five-game losing streak against playoff teams from Feb. 27-March 8 that raised doubts about whether it could compete with the NBA’s best.

“Staying the course,” James said. “That’s all [coach Erik Spoelstra] talked about. Staying the course, staying the course, and we’ll get through everything.”

The Heat need a victory to finish with their highest win total since going 59-23 in 2004-05. They appear to have a very good chance to do so against the Raptors.

The Heat have taken all three meetings rather easily, winning by an average of 11.4 points. Bosh scored 25 in his first return to Toronto since joining Miami as the Heat won 103-95 in the latest meeting Feb. 16.

Andrea Bargnani scored 38 points in that game and is averaging 29.3 against the Heat this season, but he’s missed four straight and seven of the last nine contests due to a sore ankle.

The Raptors (22-59) used just eight players in a 93-86 loss to Milwaukee on Monday as Bargnani, Leandro Barbosa, Jose Calderon, Amir Johnson, Sonny Weems and Reggie Evans sat out.

It’s uncertain if any of them will play Wednesday.

Toronto struggled in the fourth quarter against the Bucks, committing six of its 20 turnovers.

“They wore us down in the second half,” coach Jay Triano said. “We didn’t drive as much in the second half as I would have liked. Our guys were just worn down a little bit.”

Jerryd Bayless scored 20 points and DeMar DeRozan added 17 for Toronto, but they went a combined 11 for 34 from the field. The Raptors shot 37.0 per cent overall.

Miami has won four straight and six of eight against Toronto, but the Raptors have taken six of the last eight meetings at Air Canada Centre.

MIAMI—

Heat forward Mike Miller was inactive for Tuesday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers because of a bruised right knee.

Miller sustained the injury in the second half of Sunday’s win against the Houston Rockets. Coach Erik Spoelstra termed the injury as “not serious,” but said Miller would be evaluated before Wednesday’s game against the Washington Wizards.

“We’ll re-evaluate him [Wednesday],” Spoelstra said. “I don’t know if he’ll even be ready to go. He’s here with us so he can do treatment. Hopefully by the end of the week, he’ll be feeling better and ready to go.”

LeBron indifferent on Cleveland embrace

Forward LeBron James was once again booed when making a return to Cleveland, the franchise he led for seven seasons before joining the Heat.

When asked if he one day wanted to be embraced by the city, he said it didn’t matter.

“I don’t know if I can say it doesn’t matter because I still have a lot of respect for these fans,” James said.

“I love these fans for the seven years they gave me and what I tried to give them. I care but it’s not going to hold a burden on my chest if it doesn’t happen. It’s not going to stop the way I approach the game every night when I come here or when they come to Miami.”

Haslem still not there

Injured forward Udonis Haslem appeared back at full strength during the morning shootaround, but said after the short workout said he’s still not ready to return.

Haslem has been out since November with a torn ligament in his left foot.

In addition to shooting jumpshots, Haslem has also done some contact drills. They consisted of rebounding and blocking out. He said the biggest issue remaining is conditioning.

“I can’t run with these guys right,” Haslem said. “Being able to keep up with these guys is the next step.”

It was Haslem’s first time traveling with the team since sustaining the injury Nov. 20 against the Memphis Grizzlies.

“I miss that camaraderie,” Haslem said. “It was good to be back. I was like a kid in the candy store [Monday] on the plane.”

Defense is main concern

Spoelstra said he feels the team is playing “playoff-type” basketball on the offensive end, but concerns remain on defense.

One of the goals for the remainder of the season is regaining that defensive edge the Heat possessed earlier in the season.

“There are some lapses where we’re not doing it consistently as we can and some breakdowns,” Spoelstra said.

“Offensively, we’re making the progress that we needed to make. … Because of our confidence in that and improving at the offensive end, we’ve taken a step back defensively.”

No rush on Chalmers

Spoelstra said he will continue to evaluate guard Mario Chalmers, who has missed the past four games with a sprained knee.

He said Chalmers is at about “three-quarters” speed.

“We still have time,” Spoelstra said. “I’m going to see how he progresses this week. Hopefully, there will be enough improvement and then we can talk about getting him back on the basketball court.”

The positive of Chalmers’ injury is it’s provided guard Mike Bibby more time to improve familiarity with the offense.

srichardson@tribune.com

MIAMI

Miami Heat center Zydrunas Ilgauskas missed his second consecutive game because of a foot infection.

Ilgauskas spent two days in the hospital before being released Monday.

He was not on the bench for the game against the San Antonio Spurs at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said there is no timetable on his return. He is doubtful for Wednesday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“He is at home resting right now,” Spoelstra said. “We’ll have to wait and see [when he returns], until he gets back into gear.”

The injury occurred when Ilgauskas recently stepped on a nail.

Spoelstra said the infection worsened because it wasn’t treated immediately. He said it was something that got “progressively worse” in the past couple days.

“They kept him one more night just to clear everything up,” Spoelstra said.

“He is 60-70 percent better than he was. … They need to clear up the infection first. We’ll re-evaluate him as soon he gets out of the hospital and back to the arena.”

Heat forward Juwan Howard and center Jamaal Magloire have filled in during Ilgauskas’ absence.

Wade grabs honor

Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade on Monday was named NBA Player of the Week from the Eastern Conference for the period ending Sunday.

Wade led the Heat to a 2-1 week, averaging 28.7 points on .508 shooting (30 for 59) to go along with 6.3 assists and 5.3 rebounds.

Saturday, Wade became the first guard since Michael Jordan in 1988 to have at least 28 points, nine rebounds, five assists and five blocks in a game.

This marks a franchise-record 15th time Wade has received the honor and the 31st time in franchise history a Heat player has earned Player of the Week.

Additionally, this marks the third time Wade has received Player of the Week this season, having previously earned the honors for games played December 6-12 and for games played December 27- January 2.

Spurs guard Tony Parker took the Western Conference’s weekly honor.

Playing 48 minutes

Heat forward LeBron James said consistency remains the biggest concern before the playoffs begin. James said the team still experiences lulls that hampered them during the early portion of the season.

“We have possessions throughout one quarter where we have four or five straight turnovers,” James said. “Once we start to do that and fill out all our possessions the right way, we will give ourselves a good chance to win any game.”

Popovich says Heat a contender

Despite the criticism and the Heat’s poor record against winning teams, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich still looks at them as an elite team.

Popovich called it “foolish” to define the Heat by their 30-point loss to the Spurs March 4.

“They’re a very good basketball team,” Popovich said.

“They’re a championship contender with three or four different teams in that category. Win or lose a game, your respect for the Miami Heat doesn’t go down, that would be foolish.”

srichardson@tribune.com