Link:For the first time since Dwyane Wade was sidelined Feb. 21 by a dislocated left shoulder, the guard resumed full-court work with his teammates during a lengthy morning session at AmericanAirlines Arena.
"The fact that he's back practicing is huge," Riley said. "You go back to February. ... It didn't look like it was going to be doing any of that stuff. So this is great.
"We want to win. He's going to help us win. We need him."
When Wade was sidelined, he faced the choice of immediate surgery that would have sidelined him until next season or a vigorous therapy regimen that was not guaranteed to get him back on the court.
That's what made Monday so significant. Wade not only was back, but was back absorbing contact as his team prepared for tonight's critical Eastern Conference meeting with the visiting Raptors.
While Wade will not play, Riley said it is possible forward Jason Kapono could be on the active roster for the first time since severely spraining his left ankle March 5 against Atlanta.
"It felt good to have all 15 guys back, playing again," guard Eddie Jones. "It's a great thing to have guys together again, just a beautiful thing."
It felt especially good for Wade, who plans to return for at least the final week of the regular season, but said he might push up that projected April 16 return.
"Today was a good day for me," said Wade, who reported no pain or discomfort.
Yet it also was an awkward one, with teammates cautious about another setback.
Wade was injured during a loss at Houston, when he reached in for a steal against Rockets forward Shane Battier.
"When I was in the drills with the team, I got a steal," Wade related. "I reached around and got a steal with the right hand. Everybody was, `Ohhhhh!'
"I said, `That's my right hand.'"
He smiled about the moment, as he did about the drill when teammate Dorell Wright bypassed the opportunity to block a shot.
"I didn't want to try to jump and block it or anything like that," Wright said, "and he said, `Why didn't you jump?' I was being cautious. As soon as he said that, I said, `The next time you come in here I'm going to block it.'"
Wade said he does not want it any other way, "I told him, `Ain't nothing wrong with my body.'"
Although he returned for drill work last week, Monday was the first time Wade tested the shoulder on the defensive end, in a five-on-five scrimmage.
"It's tougher on defense, because you're getting hit, [and] I'm getting screened a lot from the big guys," he said. "So that's a problem I had today, thinking too much. I'm thinking about the screen coming."
Riley said he offered only limited instructions on how to handle Wade's return.
"I think our players are smart enough to know that he has to get in shape, be comfortable," Riley said. "We made some points to our big guys. But, other than that, we want our guys to attack him, see where he is."
Teammates appreciated what they saw, aware of the grueling 90-minute therapy sessions Wade has been through the past month, including one that followed Monday's practice.
"He was doing everything everybody did," said Jones, who dealt with a similar injury earlier in his career. "Everybody was bumping him. He has to get knocked around in order to get comfortable again.
"With him, this team is a whole team."
And that had it feeling a whole lot better Monday, even if it means another two weeks before Wade makes it back to the active roster.
"He looked real good to me," Wright said. "All the moves he had been doing, he did the same things out there. Nothing changed."
