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Heat activate rookie Dwyane WadeCLEVELAND (AP) Miami rookie guard Dwyane Wade was activated from the injured list Wednesday night just before the Heat played the Cavaliers after missing 13 games with a sprained wrist. Wade, a first-round pick averaging 16.2 points a game, injured his right wrist when he fell in a win at Washington on Dec. 26. To make room for Wade, the club placed forward Rasual Butler on the injured list with a strained groin. Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said Wade, who has started all 29 games he's played this season, will come off the bench for now. ``I think it will take him some time to settle in and get back to his game,'' Van Gundy said. ``But I don't think it will take long.'' Wade is averaging a team-high 4.4 assists, 4.2 rebounds and a team-leading 1.28 steals in 36.5 minutes. He will play in next month's Rookie Challenge during All-Star weekend in Los Angeles. Butler was averaging 5.7 points and 1.4 rebounds. Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Rookie Wade expected to return Wednesday for HeatMIAMI (AP) Miami Heat rookie guard Dwyane Wade, sidelined since Dec. 30 with a bruised wrist, will likely be activated for Wednesday's game at Cleveland, coach Stan Van Gundy said Tuesday. Wade, who has missed 13 games because of the injury, is third on the team in scoring at 16.2 points per game. Center Brian Grant didn't make the trip because of a bruised left knee and tendinitis in his right knee. The Heat expect him to miss only one game. Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Here come the HeatMIAMI (AP) So Pat Riley bailed on them four days before the season. So they lost their first seven games. So they're still seven games below .500 more than two months later. The Miami Heat shouldn't despair: They play in the Eastern Conference. That makes their outlook much less dire. In fact, a victory Monday over Houston left the Heat trailing by half a game in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the weak East. In the West, they would be six games out. ``We're very grateful,'' forward Caron Butler said. ``We never gave up, and good things are happening.'' Those good things include a lot of losing by the Heat's rivals in the Atlantic Division, where only New Jersey sports a winning record. ``We're blessed,'' Miami coach Stan Van Gundy said. ``The division is not real strong, let's be honest. A lot of teams are struggling.'' Until recently, that included the Heat. Now they have a three-game winning streak going into Wednesday's game at Cleveland. And rookie guard Dwyane Wade, often the Heat's best player this season, is on the verge of returning from a wrist injury that has sidelined him since Dec. 30. The streak is especially encouraging for a team that was 5-15 in early December. Miami routed New Jersey on Friday, beat the Knicks in New York on Saturday, then defeated Houston on Monday. The 11-point win over Houston was a measure of the Heat's progress. The last time the teams met, Miami lost by 20 to fall to 0-7. ``Stan has moved them forward a long way from the start of the year,'' Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. ``They have improved as much as anybody in the league.'' There might be a slight bias, considering the Van Gundys are brothers. Still, Jeff's assertion is supported by the Heat's 14 wins in the past 25 games. ``They've been passing the ball,'' Houston guard Steve Francis said. ``At first they were playing selfish basketball, but now they pass the ball to the open guy.'' Even so, the offense ranks next-to-last in the NBA in scoring, but Wade's return is sure to provide a boost. He was averaging 16.2 points per game and winning raves as one of the league's top rookies before getting hurt. Free agent acquisitions Odom and Rafer Alston have also been welcome additions. The 6-foot-10 Odom appears on the verge of blossoming at age 24, with the kind of performance he had Monday _ 20 points, 15 rebounds _ becoming routine. ``I'd rather it be like that than when you have a good game and everybody's surprised,'' he said. Point guard Alston, a New York City playground legend but an NBA journeyman, has helped sustain the Heat's tradition of strong defense. He's the primary reason Francis, Stephon Marbury and Jason Kidd shot a combined 8-for-39 against Miami in the past three games. ``Rafer keeps the ball in front of him,'' Van Gundy said. ``We don't have a lot of guys who do that real well.'' Van Gundy's droll humor has served the Heat well so far, as has his sense of the big picture. ``We're a struggling team,'' he said. ``I want to keep playing like a team that's seven games under .500. I don't want to start playing like a team that thinks we have it rolling.'' Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Heat Jan 2004 Archive
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