LeBron James proving to be a post master

INDIANAPOLIS — Ricky Bobby and Cal Naughton Jr. had their “Shake and Bake” in the epic comedy “Talladega Nights.”

For Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, it has become something closer to “slash and bash,” at least the way it played out in Sunday’s 114-96 victory over the Indiana Pacers that gave the Miami Heat a 2-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

With James taking his game into the post, thereby opening opportunities on the wing for Wade, the duo took the latest step in proving that they could succeed together.

“We’ve come a long, long way,” Wade said after Monday’s practice at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, where the best-of-seven series resumes Tuesday night.

When the friends became teammates in the 2010 off-season, their games hardly were complementary. But with James taking his game more often into the post, and Wade expanding his game there as well, there can be nights like Sunday when each can thrive without his points coming at the expense of the other.

“It’s taken time,” Coach Erik Spoelstra said, “to allow everybody’s strengths to come to the forefront without it being a my-turn, your-turn deal.”

The trigger was James’ getting as comfortable in the post as Wade already had been.

“What takes time is for you to develop a rhythm and a fluidity offensively, where it’s not taking turns,” Spoelstra said. “And that has taken us time. So now it’s not necessarily about play calls. It’s more about the flow of our game, the ball moves.

“Those guys can get to the strengths of their game within what we do, without us having to call specific numbers for any player on the roster. And that takes some time to develop that trust.”

James said that trust changed his dynamic with Wade away from an either-or existence.

“That goes without saying,” he said, “that the comfort level that we have as a tandem, as a duo and then as a team all together, that we’re able to just play off one another.”

When James anchored in the paint Sunday, it opened driving lanes for Wade.

“The first year,” Wade said, “obviously we both played similar kind of games, and LeBron was out on the perimeter a lot more. And I think he took it upon himself last year, especially in the playoffs, to really get in the post, and that gave us a different dynamic.”

To center Chris Bosh, it was another case of James’ adjusting to make the Heat’s mix more effective.

“Sometimes failure’s the best medicine for you, just to see what you need to improve on,” he said of James’ bypassing such opportunities to diversify the Heat’s’ offense in his first season with the team, including passing up a post-up opportunity against Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry in the 2011 NBA Finals, the only playoff series the Heat has lost since James, Wade and Bosh came together in the 2010 off-season. “He’s worked on things he can really benefit this team with, and post play has been devastating for the opposing defense.”

Because of the Heat’s inverted style, in which the bulk of Bosh’s offense comes on jump shots, there almost always is benefit in having Wade or James flash into the post.

“The post is always an option for us,” Wade said. “Any time we come up the court, we can always get to the post, no matter what’s going on offense. [Sunday] night we came in with a game plan, but some nights we come in and we just read how the game is going, the flow of the game, matchup, etc., and just try to mix it up.”

As with any aspect in his offense, Spoelstra doesn’t want the post game to become predictable.

“That’s also a risk,” Spoelstra said, “where now that becomes ‘OK, your turn. OK, you’re on the block. OK, now we’ll all stand.’ So it’s an element of the game that we’ve developed, but that’s not something we go to every single time down the floor. It happens within the flow.”

What matters most is that there is a flow, James and Wade working in concert, now two victories from their third NBA Finals appearance in as many seasons as teammates.

“I’ve always laughed at that concept, that they can’t play together,” Pacers Coach Frank Vogel said. “I think two players that talented find a way to mesh and their games complement. They both can do everything, so I never really found any reason to believe they couldn’t play together.”

iwinderman@tribune.com