Dwyane Wade’s surgically repaired knee survived its first real test with no setbacks.During Wade’s first full-contact practice this season with the Miami Heat, rookie center Joel Anthony threw his 6-foot-9, 260-pound body toward the 2006 NBA finals MVP as the guard headed toward the basket.

Wade didn’t mind whatsoever.

After six months, he was more than anxious to see how he’d handle getting fouled again.

“It finally came,” Wade said. “I needed to go get that first hit and I appreciate Joel for that.”

The good news for the Heat was that Wade reported no problems related to his left knee or left shoulder — both of which were operated on May 15 — after practice Monday.The bad news for the franchise is that Wade still doesn’t know when he’ll be ready to return to the Miami lineup, which could clearly use a boost after an 0-3 start.

“It was just good to be back out there playing, to be back out there practicing,” said Wade, the three-time All-Star who averaged a career-high 27.4 points last season. “Every player loves the games and not too many love practice, but today I loved practice — for the first time.”

One thing Wade made clear: Miami’s slow start isn’t a good enough reason for him to rush back into the lineup before he’s certain the knee is ready.

When he returns, Wade wants to be back to stay.

“My prognostical prognosis, my assumption, I’ll say about three weeks,” Heat center Shaquille O’Neal said. “He’s still D-Wade. He looks good out there. We’re avoiding the very, very rough contact, but he’s shooting the ball well and getting guys involved. When he gets out there, it’s going to be fun.”

Wade dislocated his left shoulder in February and missed most of the final two months of the regular season, plus was hobbled by the condition called “jumper’s knee” when he came back for Miami’s short stint in the playoffs.

So he had both conditions repaired at the same time in mid-May, being told the rehabilitation process would take about six months — meaning he’s actually a bit ahead of schedule.

“It’s going to be a day-to-day process, it really is,” Wade said. “Hopefully we don’t have the Dwyane Wade watch and countdown. I really don’t want to do that. I really want to concentrate on the Miami Heat and when I come back, everybody will know it and hopefully I come back ready to help the team get on a good track.”

The left shoulder, he said, is tighter than his right one now, so learning to absorb contact is the only real concern there. But the knee is Wade’s ticket to explosiveness, which defines his game. And after four days of hard workouts last week, Wade had to take two days off because of soreness there.

That would indicate he’s not quite ready yet for the rigors of play.

“He went after it, he took a couple hard hits, he had a good practice,” Heat coach Pat Riley said. “He’s just going to practice every day and when he feels ready, then that’s when he’ll be ready. He went hard today. We scrimmaged today. We went halfcourt, we did a lot of different packages and schemes. … He looked good.”

Tonights Miami Heat game has been added to the download section.

Future game links will hopefully be added before the game starts so our international fans can watch the game live on the internet.

 Enjoy!

In the Downloads section, you can find Dwyane Wade clips, Miami Heat games and Other Media like interviews.

Miami Heat Games

Miami Heat @ Indiana Pacers November 2nd, 2007 (Provided by leasky24)

Doctors say Dwyane Wade is ready to play. Wade isn’t completely convinced quite yet.So that’s why the star Miami Heat guard said Saturday that he doesn’t have a specific game in mind for his return to the lineup, following nearly six months of rehabilitating his surgically repaired left shoulder and left knee.

The reason: He wants to make absolutely certain that his shoulder is ready for the rigors of NBA play.

“That’s why I’m not coming back tomorrow,” Wade said Saturday at an event promoting his newest Converse shoe. “I’m cleared, but I know that will be on my mind. It’s not like I’m not going to think about it at all, but when I’m on the court I just want to be thinking about the game.”

Wade had surgery May 15 to repair both a dislocated left shoulder — an injury suffered in February and which kept him sidelined for about two months — and relieve pain from a condition commonly called “jumper’s knee.” His knee hurt so much at the end of last season, Wade would wince while trying to dunk.

He was cleared to return Thursday by Dr. Harlan Selesnick of the Heat medical staff, and will participate in his first full-contact practice of the season Monday morning.

Wade has been doing non-contact work in team practices, plus has done other drills individually to try to speed up the process.

“I wish I knew how many practices it would take to get ready,” Wade said. “I would tell everybody if I knew.”

Wade will likely give the team no more than one day notice before deciding to play. Barring no setbacks, there’s a sense the 2006 finals MVP could be ready in time for Miami’s game at New York on Nov. 11 or at Charlotte on Nov. 13.

Either way, he won’t be sidelined much longer.

“I’m excited. I’m excited to get back in the mix, getting back to playing the game I love to play,” Wade said. “Getting back to my teammates, that’s the most important thing.”

Wade appeared at the Overtown Youth Center in downtown Miami, giving away about 150 pairs of the shoes that bear his name to children. He also unveiled a program called “Open Gym,” where time on basketball courts will be provided to kids in an effort to get more of them involved in the game.

“It’s like how I started playing basketball in an open gym, unorganized basketball, unstructured, just really playing in the love of the game,” Wade said.

Two games, two down-to-the-wire wins for the Indiana Pacers and new coach Jim O’Brien. Danny Granger was 10-for-13 from the field and had 25 points and nine rebounds to help the Pacers beat the Miami Heat 87-85 on Friday night.The Pacers overcame a seven-point deficit with four minutes left. On Wednesday, they beat Washington in overtime.

“We’re not going to win every game, but we’re not going to stop playing,” Granger said. “We’re going to play our style until the buzzer. I would bet to say we’re going to win more than we’re going to lose.”

Ike Diogu scored 16 points, Mike Dunleavy added 15 and Jamaal Tinsley had 10 assists for the Pacers.

Indiana forward Jermaine O’Neal, who sat out the opener with a hyperextended left knee, had 10 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and three blocks in 24 minutes.

The assist total tied a career high for O’Neal. He has been Indiana’s top scoring option for years, but now he’s content to set up his teammates.

“I’m not looking to score a lot,” O’Neal said. “I’m looking to soften the defense up with the pass. I wanted to play a few more minutes because I wanted to get as many assists as possible. I feel like that changes the dynamics of the game.”

Rookie Daequan Cook, who didn’t play in the season-opening loss to Detroit, led Miami with 17 points, while Ricky Davis added 13 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.

Miami center Shaquille O’Neal fouled out with 5:07 to go. He had eight points and seven rebounds in 28 minutes, shot 4-for-13 from the field and had six turnovers.

Miami led 76-75 in the fourth quarter when Mark Blount hit a 3-pointer with 4:42 to go. Cook followed with a 3 to give Miami an 82-75 lead with 4:03 to play.

Kareem Rush hit a 3-pointer for Indiana with 1:42 to go that tied it at 82, and he made another one with 1:06 to go for an 85-82 lead.

Miami’s Jason Williams missed a layup on a drive to the hoop, and the Pacers gained possession after Miami fouled on the rebound. A pull-up jumper by Granger gave the Pacers an 87-82 lead with 41 seconds to play.

Davis made a shot from just beyond halfcourt at the buzzer for the final margin.

The Pacers acquired Rush in the offseason to cure some of their perimeter shooting woes. He didn’t make a shot until the final two minutes.

“The gun is always loaded,” Rush said. “If I’m open, I’m going to take the shot. I knew we needed threes when I came in, so I came in firing.”

The Pacers weren’t worried when Miami had the lead in the closing minutes. Jermaine O’Neal said O’Brien has changed their mental approach.

“His personality has rubbed off on this team in a major way from day one,” O’Neal said. “His relationship with this team has gone way beyond basketball. We’re willing to lay it on the line. It doesn’t matter who’s out there.”

Miami coach Pat Riley said his team played poorly down the stretch.

“We couldn’t get a stop, and we couldn’t get a bucket, and we couldn’t get a free throw in,” he said. “It was just very frustrating for our guys.”

The Heat were 4-of-13 on free throws.

Cook’s performance was a bright spot for the Heat.

“Coach has told me to be ready, my time could come at any time,” Cook said. “Tonight was that night.”

Aside from that, the Heat had little to take from their trip to Indianapolis.

“We played selfish tonight,” Williams said. “It’s pretty self-explanatory. I didn’t think we gave the game away. I think they took it away from us.”

Game notes
Riley announced before the game that All-Star G Dwyane Wade has been cleared to play. Wade had surgeries on his left knee and left shoulder in May. Riley didn’t say when Wade would play. … Indy Racing League star Helio Castroneves and his “Dancing With the Stars” partner Julianne Hough performed at the end of the first quarter. … Indiana F Shawne Williams served the second game of a team-imposed three-game suspension after being caught driving without a license. … Indiana C Troy Murphy sat out for the second straight game. … Dunleavy split his lip in the first quarter. He got eight stitches and returned. … Tinsley sprained his left thumb in the first quarter.

Tonights the night! Grab the popcorn and get ready to watch your Miami Heat take on the Detroit Pistons at the American Airlines Arena. The game starts at 7:00 and will be broadcasted on TNT. With D-Wade out, we’re going to see if Miami can hold on and win this one. I personally think its going to be a close game. I think Ricky Davis will do a good job filling Dwyane’s spot for the next 2-4 weeks.Tell me what you think! 

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