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Heat attempt to avoid regular-season sweep by Bulls

Mar 7, 2007 - 4:54 PM Chicago (35-27) at Miami (30-29) 7:30 pm EST

MIAMI (Ticker) - A year ago, an injury to Jason Kapono would have virtually no effect on the Miami Heat. Now it is a huge factor.

Having climbed above .500 for the first time in nearly four months, the Heat will have to manage without Kapono for a while, beginning with Wednesday's meeting with the Chicago Bulls.

A 6-8 forward who always has had a sweet stroke, Kapono has come into his own this season. Playing off superstars Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal, he has used his spot-up skills to shoot a league-leading 51.3 percent from 3-point range and average 11.1 points, third on the the team.

But in the third quarter of Monday's 88-81 victory over Atlanta, the All-Star Weekend Three-Point Shootout winner sprained his left ankle. An MRI on Tuesday also revealed a bone bruise, and Kapono will be out for at least 10 days.

The defending champions already are without Wade, who has a dislocated shoulder and is at least three weeks away from returning. Perhaps mid-season pickup Eddie Jones, who scored 21 points vs. Atlanta, can take some of the pressure off O'Neal, who figures to be swarmed by the defense.

The Bulls have had the Heat's number this season, winning all three meetings. They have not swept the season series since taking all four games in the 1991-92 campaign - the season before O'Neal entered the NBA.

This season's spotless mark include a 108-66 trouncing here on Opening Night that took the luster off the championship rings handed out by the Heat before the game. The Bulls followed with two more triumphs, including a 100-97 win in the most recent encounter January 27.

Miami has won three in a row and four of five. The longer stretch has seen the Heat surrender an average of just 85.2 points, and they will need that defense to slow down Bulls guard Ben Gordon.

In Sunday's 126-121 overtime win at Milwaukee, Gordon scored 20 of his career-high 48 points in the fourth quarter, almost singlehandedly erasing an 18-point deficit and leading Chicago to its third straight win.