MIAMI – Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade was ruled out for Tuesday’s home game against Philadelphia. But Heat coached Erik Spoelstra is optimistic he will be able to play in Wednesday’s big game against Oklahoma City.
“He bumped knees in the Boston game (Sunday),’’ Spoelstra said before the game against Philadelphia. "He was able to go through the walkthrough (Monday) and he was able to do some things (Tuesday morning) in the shoootaround, but we want to be very smart about it right now and take the next 24 hours to try to do some treatment.’’
Spoelstra called the injury to Wade's left knee “nothing serious” and that he's “hopeful’’ Wade will play Wednesday. That game at AmericanAirlines Arena could be a preview of the NBA Finals. The Thunder won the first game between the teams last week and would seize a possible tiebreaker with a victory in the finale of the two-game series.
“He took a couple of spills and I’m not sure if he knew when it was,'' Spoelstra said of how Wade got hurt. "It was a little bit sore (Monday). It was a little bit more sore (Tuesday) morning. Because of the schedule and everything, we’re not weighing opponents or anything like that. But I think we’ll see some significant progress in the next 24 hours and then we’ll reevaluate before the game (Wednesday).’’
It’s the 10th game Wade has missed this season. The Heat are 8-1 without him.
Chris Tomasson can be reached at christomasson@hotmail.com or on Twitter @christomasson
