INDIANAPOLIS—
The questions, the concerns, the innuendo, the medical theories will simmer for another day.
Three hours before a scheduled media availability session Friday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the Miami Heat announced that their practice has been canceled, therefore eliminating access to players and the coaching staff.
Instead, in the wake of the Thursday 94-75 loss to the Indiana Pacers that dropped the Heat to a 2-1 deficit in this best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series, answers will now have to wait until Saturday, if offered at all.
The Pacers were also unavailable Friday, having announced in the immediate wake of their Game 3 victory that they would take the day off, amid this lone two-day break in the series schedule.
Get the FREE Miami Hoops iPhone and Android app
Game 4 is 3:30 p.m. Sunday, with both teams scheduled to practice Saturday.
For now, what it known is this:
– Guard Dwyane Wade, who struggled through a dreary 2-of-13 shooting performance in Game 3, closing with five points, has been taking additional treatment for a leg issue, believed to involve his knee. According to a source familiar with the situation, there is not an injury per se, but rather increased discomfort, an ongoing concern with the veteran.
– Guard Mario Chalmers, coming off a 25-point performance in Game 3, his career playoff high, is receiving treatment for a wrist injury sustained late in Thursday’s game, with X-rays coming back negative.
– Tensions within the locker room involve more than Wade, with power forward Udonis Haslem disappointed over how he has been handled this postseason by coach Erik Spoelstra. Haslem was removed from the starting lineup for Game 3, playing just 7:18.
iwinderman@tribune.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat
