Wade Injured Shoulder; Heat Will Regroup

Yes, it is a black day for Heat fans. A very black day, but to quote a famous line from Tolkien, "Yet the sun still rises".

The Heat have their hands full, no doubt. They were all of a sudden together again, like a Beatles reunion, for the first time all season last night. Shaq, Wade, Williams was playing, Riley, everyone. Then, on an attempt to help-defend, Wade dislocates his shoulder by getting his arm caught on Shane Battier's arm, overextending his arm and pulling the joint. At least, that is the observation of what happened.

Wade was x-rayed in Houston, but had to stay behind while the rest of his teammates moved on up to Dallas to take on the Mavericks tonight. Now, we are being told, the Heat are going to be cautious and send Wade back to Miami for further care.

Translation - a few weeks of Wadeless Heat. He is going to be down with a sling around his shoulder, and the basic timetable (for the rest of us mortals) is at least 2 weeks. His shoulder has to be immobilized and he will be on some kind of pain reliever. After a week or so, they will test the shoulder to see what kind of range of motion he has.

Yet, this is not hopeless. Maybe people have forgotten about the rest of this Heat team. There are a few hall-of-famers-to-be rounding out this thing: namely, Shaquille O'Neal.

Pat Riley now seems prophetic for calling out Shaq yesterday and saying that he needs to step it up. And now, that is fact - if the Heat are going to make a run here, they will have to do it without their catalyst, Wade, but Shaq is still the heart of this team. He creates spacing and makes the game so much easier for his teammates.

We saw a little bit of that last night in Houston - Shaq was much more active around the hoop and grabbing rebounds. Heck, he missed a dunk, but would still come down with the rebound and finish what he started. His massive head was under the hoop all night, and not even Dikembe Mutombo could stop him. In fact, Shaq got hit with a tech for using Mutumbo's patented, signature finger waive after he dunked all over Mt. Mutumbo.

That is the Shaq the Heat are going to need tonight. The Shaq that calls out Eric Dampier for what he is. The Shaq that totally dominates the pace of a game. The Shaq of old instead of just an old Shaq.

He has the legs for it, he hasn't played in too many games this season and is noticeably stronger, fit and ready at the time of year where most of his peers are slowing down.

The Heat will re-group tonight against the Mavericks. This game has too much at stake for it - it is the place where the Heat captured their Finals victory last season. In essence, it is their second home. It's the Heat's house.

Let's not forget that Eddie Jones is only a few seasons removed from playing a pivotal role on the Heat's Eastern Conference contending team (that lost to the Pistons). He will be ready. And Riley can rely on him and will have to tonight and for the interim. He may emerge as the starting shooting guard, playing off a healthy Jason Williams.

Another key figure is going to be the play of Jason Kapono. The guy has demonstrated all season that his shooting touch is no fluke, and with that quick release he can score often and in a hurry. Riley should have the Kap'n do his best Richard Hamilton impression - running off multiple screens and popping off shots to confuse and confound the Mavericks defenders.

Any team going up against the Heat has to account for Shaq's post presence and Wade's ability to create and penetrate. Things change, but they can be made to work. Instead of Wade, insert Jason Williams, who looked pretty good in last night's loss to the Rockets. James Posey will continue to be a spot shooter, slasher and physical defender. Antoine Walker could be the x-factor, his shooting is streaky, but if he is on he will space the floor and also have the ability to create mismatches.

There are plenty of weapons for the Heat to play around with while Wade is down. In fact, this might be a blessing in that the Heat will now be forced to forge its identity without Wade and gain the confidence necessary to overcome any obstacle in which the playoffs will surely test.

And the playoffs are by no means out of reach. The Heat play in the East and can look to make a dramatic move up in the standings by eating up the Eastern teams that have been lucking out due to the Heat's injury plagued season - and now, those teams are showing wear of their own. Washington has Antawn Jamison down, and they suffer from the incoherent babble of Gilber Arenas on a nightly basis. The Magic have had their problems, although Dwight Howard looks to pick up for Orlando where Shaq left off a few moons ago. Charlotte and Atlanta are just not ready. Don't even get me started with the Atlantic division, although the Raptors look like a legit playoff team, their youth and inexperience can be exposed on any night. The Central will display the toughest teams with Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago and even Indiana making their pushes.

But the Heat sit at the 8th and final spot. They could struggle and bounce around, or they can move up. This team is too good not to move up.