Miami Heat's Daequan Cook could miss Pacers game
By MICHAEL WALLACE
mwallace@miamiherald.com
INDIANAPOLIS -- Injuries and illness might force the Miami Heat to rely on its perimeter depth far sooner than coach Erik Spoelstra anticipated.
Reserve guard Daequan Cook was held out of Friday's shootaround with a sprained right shoulder and could miss the game against Indiana.
Cook, who has had problems with both shoulders the past two seasons, aggravated the one on his shooting arm during a weight room workout Thursday before the team traveled to Indianapolis for tonight's game.
The Heat was already going to be shorthanded against the Pacers, with swingman James Jones left back in Miami to recover from flu-like symptoms. Reserve center Jamaal Magloire is serving the final game of his two-game suspension by the league for throwing a punch during an Oct. 5 preseason game at Detroit.
Cook attended Friday's shootaround at Conseco Fieldhouse, but was unable to extend his right arm far above his head in a shooting motion.
``I'm going to come over again early before the game to see what I can do,'' Cook said. ``Once I get warmed up, it might be pretty good. But once it gets cold, there's going to be a lot more pain. I'll try my hardest to keep everything warm and go from there.''
The game's 8 p.m. start is an hour later than normal because of pregame festivities leading into the Pacers' home opener.
Cook said his shoulder and right arm ``just gave out'' on Thursday as he was doing balance drills with a medicine ball. It was the same shoulder that required extensive rehabilitation in summer 2007 after his rookie season. Cook then missed practice time and one game last April with a sprained left shoulder.
``He wasn't even doing shoulder exercises -- it was just a weird thing,'' Spoelstra said. ``Hopefully, he feels better and can go. It'll be a game-time decision. But we've talked a lot about our bench and this may be one of those times we'll use our depth.''
Starting small forward Quentin Richardson and reserve Yakhouba Diawara could see extended action if Cook is limited or unable to play as the Heat (1-0) looks to end a 14-game regular-season losing streak against the Pacers (0-1) in Indiana.
Cook, the league's reigning 3-Point Shootout champion from All-Star weekend, led the Heat in scoring three times during a productive preseason as he sought to secure the team's primary sixth-man role.
He had 15 points and five rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench during Wednesday's 115-93 win in the season opener against New York.
After dealing with shoulder problems in each of his first two seasons in the league, Cook hopes his latest mishap won't turn into a lingering setback.
``I have no idea why it's happening with my shoulders,'' Cook said. ``They're kind of weak, but I've put in a lot of work. Hopefully, it's not as bad as before, especially being my trigger arm, the one I shoot with.''
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