<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">MIAMI ? Even in victory, the Miami Heat suffered a loss Monday. Forward Jason Kapono, the league leader in three-point percentage at 51.3 and the team's second-leading healthy scorer at 11.1 points per game, sustained a sprained left ankle after landing on the foot of teammate James Posey in Miami's 88-81 victory over Atlanta. "It's a bad sprain," coach Pat Riley said. Kapono, who won the three-point shooting contest during All-Star Weekend, didn't return to the game and is day to day. X-rays were negative and, as is his custom, Kapono left the locker room before reporters arrived. Center Alonzo Mourning said it looks like Kapono will "miss a couple of games." Riley said Kapono couldn't put any weight on his left foot. "We've just got to deal with it," Riley said. After taking a jumper near the free-throw line, Kapono came down on Posey's foot and went to the ground in apparent agony with 3:19 left in the third quarter. Replays showed Kapono's ankle seemed to touch the floor. He left the court with help from trainer Ron Culp and center Michael Doleac. Kapono's injury came on the day Miami got a measure of comfort regarding guard Dwyane Wade's injured shoulder. Wade announced he's opting for rehabilitation and therapy instead of surgery. He will be re-evaluated after two or three weeks. Aside from the Kapono injury, Monday's game brought good news and loads of encouragement. Miami (30-29) has won three consecutive games overall and 11 of its past 15. It extended its home win streak to nine games and got over the .500 mark for the first time since Nov. 10, when it was 3-2. Center Shaquille O'Neal led the way for Miami once again with 14 points and nine rebounds. In four of Miami's past five games (all but the New York loss) O'Neal has made quick work of opposing centers, who have amounted to little more than a group of proverbial 98-pound weaklings. On Monday it was Hawks center Zaza Pachulia's turn. The only downside for O'Neal was his ugly 4-for-12 performance from the free-throw line. But as well as O'Neal played, guard Eddie Jones was the team's high scorer with a season-high 21 points. Jones' buzzer-beating jumper gave Miami a 59-54 lead going into the fourth quarter. That was encouraging news because Miami began the game with a 14-1 home record this season when taking a lead into the fourth quarter. Miami was in control most of the game, even though it fell behind briefly at 49-48 in the back-and-forth third quarter. The Heat went on a 15-0 run in the first quarter, keeping the Hawks scoreless for a total of 7:20. In the fourth quarter, Miami opened a 70-63 lead with 8:09 remaining and never allowed Atlanta to get closer than seven points the rest of the way. Now the focus turns to Kapono. "We just have to work with what we've got," O'Neal said, "and hopefully he can come back quickly help us out."</div> Source
Wow, Miami is getting raped with the injuries this season. Jason Williams, Shaq, Wade, and now Kapono? That's crazy.
Ah, and they keep piling up. We need Jones to step up like he did last night as well as Posey and Wright.
I was at the game and the injury looked pretty bad, he was on the floor for a while, hopefully everything works out for him, we really need him back for our perimeter shooting. The only good thing about this injury is that now, I hope, Dorrell Wright can get some minutes.
does anyone know how long hes out for? it might say it in the article, but i only scanned it so idk...^i too would love to see dorrell get more time. he did a good job when he was actually playing, then he just stopped getting time out of nowhere.
Damn it! All the injuries this season... i say f it, do surgery for Wade and everything, then come back next year as a complete powerhouse and kick some Mav ass. Thats instead of stumbling through the playoffs and most likely losing near the end, then having our players not be completely healthy and again stumbling through next season.
