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Heat’s Mario Chalmers out with hand injury vs. Magic

ORLANDO – Mario Chalmers had just released a pass to Mike Miller late in the third quarter of Tuesday’s victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers when his left hand became tangled in another player’s jersey.

It would be the same fate for Chalmers on Wednesday night.

Sidelined with what the Miami Heat announced Wednesday as a sprained left hand, Chalmers was inactive against the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center.

He said a postgame X-ray Tuesday night was negative and he was uncertain whether he would need an MRI.

With Chalmers out of the starting lineup for the first time this season, it left Chris Bosh and Joel Anthony as the only players to start all 26 games for the Heat.

The only other Heat players to appear in all 26 games, including Wednesday’s, are rookie point guard Norris Cole, who started in Chalmers’ place, Shane Battier and Udonis Haslem.

Chalmers said the hand injury did not seem like much of a concern at the time Tuesday night, even as he walked back to the bench holding the hand. The hand was wrapped in ice in the locker room afterward.

“I could have gone back in, with the adrenaline kicking in and everything,” he said in the Heat locker room prior to Wednesday’s game. “I still had a lot of blood circulating and didn’t feel anything.

“I thought it was good to go. Then it started to swell.”

While the Heat is classifying it as a hand injury, Chalmers said of the ailment, “I just bent a finger back the wrong way.”

The team has not said whether an MRI would be required.

“I didn’t think it was that serious,” Chalmers said.

The irony is Cole received his first start only hours after being snubbed for the NBA’s annual rookie showcase during All-Star Weekend, an event to be held later this month in Orlando.

“I didn’t even know he wasn’t selected,” Chalmers said.

By Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel

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