Wade Strains Hamstring As New Heat Debut to Preseason Win

You know you're legit when Rick Ross shows up for a pre-season jaunt.

It was just a pre-season game, but the atmosphere was roughly equivalent to most of the "real" games last season: 19,600 people turned out Tuesday night to watch Lebron James and Chris Bosh debut alongside Dwyane Wade in Miami.

And only 13,392 of them were ESPN employees!

The Big Three's little night went well, unless you take your Dwyane Wade healthy. Just three minutes into the 105-89 romp over Detroit, Wade pulled up lame, clutching his hamstring and signaling for a substitute.

He would not return, and word out of the locker room came back quickly: no. 3 had strained the muscle, and will be out at least until he's reevaluated in a week.

"I was coming in a little sore from practice," Wade admitted, but said he hadn't anticipated tweaking the muscle as he's never suffered that particular injury before.

No. 3 was able to watch the rest of the game from, presumably, beneath a flank of tsk-ing trainers. He liked what he saw, even if it wasn't always perfect.

"You saw what LeBron can do with his playmaking ability and his ability to attack the basket," Wade said. "And Chris [Bosh's] ability to make one-on-one plays, and he can be a force on the glass as well."

James danced lead with the Heat after Wade's departure, finishing with 18 points, 4 assists, and one highlight reel dunk in 27 minutes. The very first time he touched the ball, in fact, he helped himself to a hard drive to the basket -- and he had a hand, whether shooting or assisting, with 8 of Miami's first 11 buckets.

"I'm never in a defer mentality," he said, suggesting he'd play the same way whether Wade was around or not. "I'm in attack mode. No matter how many weapons we have on the court, I'm still going to play my game."

Also on his game was Chris Bosh, now easily the best third option in the NBA. The former Raptor finished with a team-high 20 points, helping the Heat into the half up by 20 though he played just 26 minutes.

Udonis Haslem added 14 with 13 rebounds.

But best of all, the Heat were playing real, live basketball, and enjoying it. After the Summer of LeBron, it seemed the distraction of actual sport would never come.

"The season," James announced, "is back...As a basketball player, as a guy who loves the game of basketball, I'm excited about that...I'm very happy about that."

That makes 19,600 of us.

Notes: for those who care, LeBron and Bosh were announced first and second as starters, respectively, with Dwyane Wade's name called last. And yes, LeBron brought his signature powder poof show. ....Celebs who turned out to see the new Heat debut included Gloria Estefan, Rick Ross, and Flo-Rida. ....Rookie Wal-Mart lover and official crush object Dexter Pittman is stiill on the roster. Fingers crossed.

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