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Orlando Magic center Nik Vučević will miss Saturday's game against the Miami Heat, the team announced. Vučević attempted to warm up, but his sprained left ankle is still not well enough to play. Vučević missed Orlando's previous game, an 87-81 overtime loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, with the injury.
In the five games Vučević has missed in the 2013/14 season--he missed four others with a previous sprain in the same ankle--the Magic's opponents have outrebounded them by a 272-192 margin, or 16 rebounds per game. Vučević leads the team with 11.1 rebounds per game to go with 13.4 points and two assists.
On the Miami side, coach Erik Spoelstra said he considers Dwyane Wade and Shane Battier--his starting shooting guard and power forward, respectively-- game-time decisions. "Everybody was on the first bus here early with the intention to try to play," he said about 90 minutes before tipoff.
Wade is averaging 19.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and two steals per game. Miami has managed his minutes throughout the season in order to protect his knees. Battier, averaging 4.4 points in just 20 minutes per game, is suffering from a sore quadriceps.
