Heat's Wade practices for first time in six weeks

Wade was averaging 28.8 points when he was hurt in a collision with Houston's Shane Battier on Feb. 21. The Heat are 13-7 since, are a half-game behind Washington in the Southeast Division and play a huge game against Toronto -- a team Miami is chasing for home-court advantage in the first playoff round -- on Tuesday.

Should Miami beat the Raptors, it'd hold the tiebreaker by winning the season series 2-1. Should Miami lose, the Heat would essentially fall four games (three in the standings, one more with the tiebreaker) behind Toronto with eight games left, meaning chances of earning home-court for Round 1 would be slim.

"It's a big game, there's no doubt," Riley said. "Our guys understand it. We know what it's about. ... It's all about positioning and seeding and home-court advantage. They know it's huge."

Wade won't play on Tuesday, but the defending NBA champions might get Jason Kapono back in the lineup.

Kapono, the NBA's leading 3-point shooter, hasn't played since spraining his left ankle against Atlanta on March 5. The team will decide his status after Tuesday morning's shootaround.

"I assume that I'm playing. I want to be out there," Kapono said. "Unless something happens from now until Tuesday night, which I don't see, I expect to be out there."

Wade is hoping to say the same soon. He'll travel with the Heat to Cleveland and Boston later this week so he can continue practicing and "learning the plays again," as he put it, and will continue rehabbing the shoulder daily to keep building strength.

"I haven't had a day off," Wade said.

Wade's biggest challenge right now, he said, is denying his risky instinct of reaching for every ball that he comes near defensively and instead using his feet to get into better position. But his explosiveness was still there on the offensive end, proven by the way he ended a 4-on-4 scrimmage with a strong dunk.

"He looked real good to me," Wright said. "He's got all the moves. Nothing's changed. He's probably just a little winded, I bet, sitting out that long. But he's been working hard every day, trying to get back."