Times wires
Sunday, May 29, 2011
MIAMI — Mike Miller will play in these NBA Finals with a heavy heart, amid concerns about a tiny heart.
The Heat forward said Sunday that his newborn daughter, Jaelyn, had been released from a Broward hospital Saturday. She spent the initial days of her life in intensive care because of a ventricular septal defect, in this case, Miller said, "four holes in her heart, which were causing problems with her breathing."
Miller left his daughter's side to fly with the team for Thursday's Eastern Conference final-clinching win against the Bulls in Chicago, but otherwise the schedule has allowed him to fulfill his Heat obligations without putting distance between himself and his family.
Hospital visits are set for Tuesday and Thursday, with the Heat hosting Games 1 and 2 against the Mavericks those nights.
"She goes back Tuesday, actually has doctors' appointments all week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday," the former Florida standout said. "We'll find out how everything is going then and hopefully keep her out."
And for now, there is waiting.
"They started her on some meds," he said. "Her breathing got a little better. It's still not where we want it. But we're going to find out this week and figure out in the next hopefully month or two if she'll need surgery or not."
Miller, who also has two young sons, said his teammates have been supportive: "They've been great. Obviously, there's guys that understand what's going on as an athlete, when you have something else going on, because everyone's kind of been through … something personal when they're playing."
Meanwhile, Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem, James Jones and Miller were held out of the contact portions of Sunday's practice but will practice fully today, coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Nowitzki: Title or bust
DALLAS — Reaching the NBA Finals no longer qualifies as a big deal to Dirk Nowitzki.
The Mavericks star, who turns 33 on June 19 has been there before, losing to the Heat in 2006. He was the league's MVP in 2007. He carried Germany's flag into the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics.
As he has made clear in the past six weeks, all that matters is winning a championship.
"There is no second-place finish in this league," he said. "You get nothing for losing the Finals."
And one thing he doesn't want to talk about is his status among the league hierarchy.
"That's all media talk to me," he said. "That's all something we can talk about in 10, 15 years, when my career is over. Right now, I'm chasing my dream. We came so close five years ago. It took a long time to get back to this stage. We obviously want to win. We'll see what happens in these next two weeks, I guess."
NBA Finals
Heat vs. Mavericks
Tuesday: at Miami, 9, Ch. 28
Thursday: at Miami, 9, Ch. 28
Sunday: at Dallas, 8, Ch. 28
June 7: at Dallas, 9, Ch. 28
June 9: at Dallas, 9, Ch. 28 *
June 12: at Miami, 8, Ch. 28 *
June 14: at Miami, 9, Ch. 28 *
* If necessary