Dooling scored a season-high 19 points and Laettner added 10 of his 14 in the fourth quarter as the Heat rallied for a 98-93 victory over the underachieving Orlando Magic.
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"Going into the game, we (the bench) knew were we going to get the opportunity to play," Dooling said. "We can play ball also, but we know our roles on this team are not going to be scoring and playing a lot of minutes. We know we got guys (O'Neal and Wade) that can do that a little better than us."
However, thanks to a season-high 62 points from the bench, the Heat finished 15-1 against Southeast Division opponents - the best division record in NBA history.
"I was very happy with went on," Miami coach Stan Van Gundy said. "Keyon played well and I thought the Christian came alive offensively. The playoffs didn't start tonight. This was the game we had to play and I was happy with it."
Rookie Dwight Howard, who scored 21 points, gave Orlando a 90-84 advantage with 5 1/2 minutes remaining before Miami reeled off the next 10 points. The surge was capped by Laettner's 20-foot jumper with 1:48 left.
Laettner added a foul-line jumper and a pair of free throws in the final minute to help seal the victory.
"We have a good team no matter who is playing for us," Laettner said. "It doesn't matter if Shaq (O'Neal) is out there or Wade ... we have a good shot every night. We know that we can win if Shaq get hurts for a game or if Wade gets into foul trouble. We have to have that confidence in ourselves that we can still play well and win."
The addition of O'Neal and the improvement of Wade helped vault Miami (59-23) to the top of the Eastern Conference standings after finishing the 2003-04 campaign with a 42-40 record. Miami opens the postseason with a matchup against eighth-seeded New Jersey.
Despite losing 19 of its last 24 games to tumble out of the playoff picture, Orlando (36-46) improved 15 games from last season's league-worst 21-61 mark.
"We had lot of people hurt and a coaching change and we got into a slump toward the end," said Magic guard Deshawn Stevenson, who scored 11 points. "We did better than last year but we still have to make the playoffs."
"I wasn't here last year to see what happened, but I think the players we have here are very talented," said Magic guard SteveFrancis, who scored 21 points but committed seven turnovers. "We have an opportunity to get better."
Howard, the first overall pick in last year's draft, became the first player to come straight from high school and start all 82 games.
"The only goal I gave myself the season was to start and finish every game and the numbers are going to come," said Howard, who averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds per game to become just the ninth rookie since 1990 to average a double-double. "I'm just happy I stayed healthy my whole rookie year."