Before the Heat could rise and despair could set in, NBA executives and fans began reaching for coping mechanisms last summer.

Denial: The LeBron James-Dwyane Wade tandem will not work. They are too similar.

Skepticism: James, Wade and Chris Bosh are great, but the supporting cast is weak.

Measured acceptance: The Heat could become dominant, but not this season. Depth and chemistry are as important as talent.

Over the last month, Miami has virtually obliterated every shred of doubt, as well as the Hawks, the Knicks, the Hornets, the Jazz and the defending champion Lakers.

“They’re doing everything we’re not doing,” Kobe Bryant said Saturday after the Heat dismantled his Lakers, 96-80.

Miami started the season 9-8, inspiring rumors that Pat Riley would replace Erik Spoelstra as coach. It was a gleeful time for rivals and skeptics. But the Heat have developed chemistry, masked weaknesses and quieted critics, going 14-1 since Nov. 29.

The skeptics, if there were any left, might have cited a soft schedule or pointed to a narrow victory over the abysmal Washington Wizards. But a 15.1-point average margin in those 14 victories implies otherwise. And the Christmas Day demolition of the Lakers proved that resistance is futile.

The loss put Bryant in such a foul mood that he called for the NBA to take the Lakers off the Christmas schedule and threatened, metaphorically, to beat in the heads of his teammates. Coach Phil Jackson actually pleaded for patience from distraught Lakers fans.

Such is the effect that James and Wade are now having on opponents, even the mightiest among them.

While the Heat were rolling through their December schedule, the Orlando Magic were scrambling their roster in a frantic attempt to keep pace. On Dec. 18 — the day that Miami won its 12th straight game — the Magic made two huge trades, acquiring Gilbert Arenas from Washington and Hedo Turkoglu and Jason Richardson from Phoenix.

The Magic sent away Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, Marcin Gortat and Mickael Pietrus, continuing a rapid dismantling of the team that won the Eastern Conference title in 2009. Only four significant players remain from that team: Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, J.J. Redick and Turkoglu, who had spent the last year with the Suns and the Toronto Raptors.

Miami might not have been the direct cause of the moves. The Magic were faltering anyway and probably needed a shakeup. But Miami’s summer makeover also served as a warning to team executives everywhere: Keep your superstars happy and surrounded with talent, lest they conspire to play somewhere else.

Orlando, which lost Shaquille O’Neal to the Lakers in 1996, cannot afford to lose Howard, another franchise center, when his turn to enter free agency comes in 2012.

“We have a window to win a championship, and we’re in that window now,” Otis Smith, the Magic general manager, told The Orlando Sentinel after making the trades.

The Magic were viewed as a virtual co-favorite in the Eastern Conference this season, with the Heat and the Celtics. The Magic have instead settled into the middle of the pack, with the rising Chicago Bulls, the surprising Knicks and the still-vibrant Atlanta Hawks. Orlando was 19-12 after Monday’s win against the Nets.

The standings underline the clash of paradigms, and the stratification of talent. The Celtics and the Heat have packed their rosters with marquee players and lord over the conference. In the bottom half, it is hard to find a bankable star besides John Wall, the Wizards’ rookie point guard.

Everyone in the middle is in a mad scramble to catch Miami and Boston. The Bulls signed Carlos Boozer to give Derrick Rose a worthy partner. The Knicks signed Amar’e Stoudemire as their first pillar and are searching for a second. The Magic just blew up their roster.

Only one franchise in the last decade has won an NBA title without transcendent talent: The 2003-2004 Detroit Pistons. At the time, they were hailed as the ultimate all-for-one team, a group that was better than the sum of its parts. In this era of superstar alliances, that model looks more like an anomaly every day.