Thursday practice update

Erik Spoelstra is still giving the same answer when asked if Michael Beasley will be inserted into the starting lineup.  “We’ll see,” says the coach.  With Boston coming up tomorrow, and Kevin Garnett out of the lineup, Beasley would be lined up opposite Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis.  This would create favorable matchups for both players on offense…while both would likely have trouble with the other on D. 

Daequan Cook Update:  The Heat now seem to think that Cook’s shoulder injury is a muscular problem, not the rotator cuff or something equally serious.  He’s listed as questionable for the Celtics game, but Cook said the shoulder is feeling better today.  It will likely be a game-time decision whether or not Daequan plays.  He missed the Heat’s last game against the Hornets and played only 7 minutes in Washington before coming out of the game with the shoulder tightness. 

Jamario Moon has been slowly fading into the background the past couple weeks, and now the question is when does James Jones, who the Heat have signed long-term, take over the starting duties.  With only a handful of games left before the playoffs, the time is right to see if Jones would work as a starter.  His shot is coming back to life while Moon’s minutes have dwindled, and both players can hold their own on D.  Sure, Moon can come out and electrify the crowd with his ‘lunar landing dunks’, but a healthy James Jones will probably hit several three’s a game, and if he is playing 30+ minutes, I’d bet the Heat score maybe 10 more points/game.

After practice today, D-Wade had some interesting comments when discussing how well James Jones has been shooting lately:

“I’m still looking for the day when he’s (Jones) on one side and Dae-Dae (Cook) is on the other. Then with Beas (Beasley) out there as well you have three guys that can really step behind the arc and shoot it. That’ll make our team a real power on the offensive end. We’ve just got to make sure that if we go to that lineup guys can guard on the other end.”