OAKLAND -- Heat guard Dwyane Wade returned to action on Tuesday night against the Golden State Warriors.

Wade, who had missed three consecutive games, was a game-time decision. He participated in the Heat’s shootaround Tuesday morning at the University of San Francisco and then warmed up before the game at Oracle Arena. Wade has suffered from a bruised left foot since the third game of the season.

“There’s going to be discomfort,” Wade said after the morning shootaround. “I didn’t feel any pain [Tuesday]. That’s kind of what I go by — see if I feel any pain. Discomfort is what athletes play with, so I’m not really worried about that. As long as there’s no pain.”

In six games this season, Wade is averaging 18.8 points per game. His career average is 25.4 points per game.

“I’m not trying to play my normal minutes,” Wade said of his first game back. “Just get back into the groove of things. That’s kind of going to be my plan.”

Despite playing Tuesday, Wade likely will be questionable for Wednesday’s game against the high-flying Clippers. Meanwhile, Heat forward LeBron James is playing with a sore left ankle, and starting point guard Mario Chalmers has a bruised right shoulder.

“Hopefully, when I get back to playing, even if it’s a little discomfort, I can still keep going and keep playing until it eventually gets better,” Wade said.

‘TWEAKED’ DEFENSE

Just as the Heat’s offense underwent slight changes during the preseason, so too did the Heat’s defense. The fundamental defensive principles Heat coaches have always taught are the same, but coach Erik Spoelstra has modified the philosophy slightly to allow for more turnovers and, in turn, more points in transition. It’s working.

The Heat forced 22 turnovers Saturday. Entering Tuesday’s game in Oakland, the Heat has forced at least 20 turnovers in five games this season.

“I had enough time during the lockout and the summer to weigh a lot of different things and put together a very specific plan of how we want to play,” Spoelstra said. “There have been some things with this team that we’ve adjusted that have been different than what we’ve done with the Miami Heat for many years.

“But the personality of this team is a lot different than a lot of those teams of the past.”

In other words, this team is one of the fastest and most athletic in the league, and Spoelstra plans to maximize those strengths. Chalmers, a ball hawk since his rookie season, leads the team with 17 steals. James is second with 16. Newcomer Norris Cole has 14 steals in limited minutes. Wade, who missed three games last week, has nine steals. As a team, the Heat is ranked fourth in the NBA with 91 steals.

Just as important to its tenets of defense, the Heat has 51 blocks, which ranks ninth in the league.

“We haven’t made major structural changes on either side,” Spoelstra said. “We’ve made some minor tweaks — some significant ones that probably aren’t obvious to the average eye, but have made maybe bigger result changes on the floor.”

Both Spoelstra and James rebuked the idea that the Heat is “gambling” for turnovers.

“I don’t know if I’d use the word gambling. Disruptive,” Spoelstra said. “One of the things we want to do is play more to our athleticism and our activity and these are some of the things we’ve been wanting to stress on the defensive side of the floor.”

Said James: “We haven’t got more freedoms to play in the passing lanes and gambling. That’s not what we do. We’re just trying to use our instincts to create more turnovers, because we know if we create more turnovers, then it’s off to the races.”

The Heat’s “five players on a string” defensive principles have not been abandoned, James said.

“Coach just wants us to be disruptive and it allows our offense to get out,” James said.