Spoelstra coy about Wade's status vs. Pacers
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra did little today to clarify the availability of star guard Dwyane Wade for tonight's game against the Indiana Pacers.
Wade has a sore left knee, and he did not participate in this morning's light practice at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. He has missed three of the Heat's past four games.
'Everybody should be ready to go tonight, but I will make that determination - put everything in ink - 45 minutes before the game, and we'll go from there,' Spoelstra said after the Heat's practice.
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Spoelstra was asked if Wade, who did not speak to the media, participated in the hour-long practice. He repeated his message.
'Everybody will be ready to go tonight; I'll make that decision tonight,' he said.
The question was asked a different way: Did any Heat players not practice today.
'I will make that decision tonight,' he said.
Big game?
Tip-off is set for a few minutes after 7 p.m. That means Wade's participation will be known around 6 p.m.
Pacers forward Paul George wasn't about to take the bait when someone asked if tonight's game against the Miami Heat carried added significance because of the opponent.
'It has no significance behind it,' the Indiana Pacers forward said.
Well, maybe a little, he later conceded.
'Of course, we're hyped,' he said. 'It's another chance to go head-to-head with another elite team. We don't feel like this team is far better than us.We feel like we're matched up pretty evenly.'
George and his Pacers teammates met with about 40 media members after this morning's shootaround at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. A typical media session on the day of a game usually draws about 7-8 reporters.
So yeah, some people think tonight's first regular-season game between the two teams that met in last season's Eastern Conference finals is a big deal.
'I don't know,' coach Frank Vogel said when asked if there is such a thing as a statement game in December. 'I think that's more for the media. We're just trying to go and win. Every game we play could be the difference between us getting the No. 1 seed and not getting the No. 1 seed.'
Vogel has made it clear from season's beginning his No. 1 priority is to have the best record in the East. That way, the Pacers would be assured of having the home-court advantage in every playoff series, including a potential seventh game against the two-time defending champion Heat. Indiana (18-3) currently leads Miami (18-5) by two games in the conference standings.
'This team is obviously our No. 1 competition to earn that,' Vogel said. 'Not only would we get a (win), but we know they're going to win 60-plus games. Obviously, these head-to-head matchups are important.'
Injured Pacers forward Danny Granger (calf) practiced on Tuesday, but will not play tonight, Vogel said.
'No timeline,' Vogel said when asked about Granger's potential return.
With some national reporters on hand, George was asked why he is considered an elite player on the level of Miami's LeBron James now as opposed to in the past.
'Nowadays, you need to be a scorer to be considered an elite player,' said George, who is fourth in the league with a 25.1 average. 'Defense wasn't just doing it alone. I really wanted to challenge myself.'
Miami Heat center Chris Bosh has a message for the Indiana Pacers: Calm down.
'It's a long season, and you just have to take it in increments,' he said prior to the Eastern Conference game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse featuring two of the NBA's best teams. 'Try to improve as time goes on.'
The Pacers are 18-3 and trying to overcome the Heat (16-5) for a spot in the NBA Finals. They will treat tonight's game almost like a playoff game as they pursue the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Bosh said it's too early to look that far down the road. After all, the season is only at its quarter pole.
'Everybody feels like they have a chance (right now); we feel like we have a chance,' Bosh said. 'It's all about competition.
Pacers impressed Scola last season vs. Heat
'(The Pacers) are very eager, they're chomping at the bit, they want the playoffs to start now. If they could (play them) today they would, I'm sure. But we understand that it takes a long time to get to the point to where you need to be playing the correct basketball.
'We want to be a different team three months from now.'
Luis Scola insists this is a true story.
Last NBA season, when the Indiana Pacers were preparing to play the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals, Scola and his son, Tiago, then 7, had a conversation about the series. Tiago was a Heat fan.
'A LeBron fan, which was a problem when I got traded here,' Scola said after today's practice at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Tiago asked his father which team, the Heat or the Pacers, would win that series. Scola gave him the answer he believed was true.
'I said Miami, and he asked why,' Scola said. 'I said they had better players.
'He was watching the games and Indiana was winning. They almost won the first game, they did win the second game, and they were really big trouble for Miami.'
That led to Scola getting another question.
'You said Miami was going to win?' Scola remembers his son saying. 'I said, 'Yeah, Indiana has a better team; they play the right way.'
'I remember thinking how much fun it would be to play here. It looked fun. I guess somebody was listening because two months later I was traded here.'
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