DALLAS (AP) - Dwyane Wade might be limping through the rest of the NBA finals.
The Miami Heat guard and 2006 finals MVP bruised his left hip on a first-quarter drive in Game 5 at Dallas on Thursday night, forcing him to the locker room for evaluation. He missed about 5 minutes of the first half, then remained in the locker room after halftime for additional treatment, not checking in again until 4:33 remained in the third quarter.
Wade was in obvious pain as soon as he collided with Dallas forward Brian Cardinal with 4:01 remaining in the first quarter. He grabbed at the outside of the hip repeatedly and grimaced, eventually hobbling over to the Heat bench, falling to the court and covering his face with a towel while being tended to by Miami trainer Jay Sabol.
Moments later, Wade went to the locker room.
Wade had 11 first-half points for Miami, which came into the night with the series 2-2.
Mike Miller started the second half in Wade’s place, making two 3-pointers for Miami’s first two field goals of the third quarter.
Wade, who had 32 points in Game 4, has been snakebitten at times during his playoff career. He missed Game 6 of the 2005 Eastern Conference finals with a rib injury, returning to play in a Game 7 loss where he was clearly ailing. In 2007, Wade’s knees pained him so much that he could barely jump in what became a four-game ouster at the hands of the Chicago Bulls. And in 2009, he played through a balky back in a first-round loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
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