The Miami HEAT announced today that they have activated Christian Laettner from the injured list and placed Steve Smith on the injured list with a lower back strain

Laettner has appeared in 32 games for the HEAT so far this season, averaging 5.7 points and 2.9 rebounds in 15.8 minutes per game. He was placed on the injured list on February 3, 2005 with left foot plantar fasciitis.

Smith was obtained in a trade on February 24th that sent Malik Allen to the Charlotte Bobcats. In 37 games with Charlotte this season, he has averaged 7.9 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 17.2 minutes per game.

The Miami HEAT announced today that the results of an MRI performed on center Shaquille O?Neal has revealed a very mild left knee sprain.

O?Neal was evaluated by Dr. Harlan Selesnick at Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables, and his status remains day-to-day.

O?Neal was injured in the first quarter of Tuesday?s contest against the Chicago Bulls.

Steve Smith was traded back to the Miami Heat on Tuesday.  He came over in exchange for Malik Allen and cash considerations.

"We are very excited to welcome back Steve to the Heat organization," Heat president Pat Riley said in a statement released by the team. "In addition to him being a great shooter and his ability to play multiple positions, he also brings great character and veteran leadership to our team."

"This is a great opportunity for him to return where he started in the NBA and go to a legitimate championship contender," said Bobcats coach and general manager Bernie Bickerstaff. "We promised Steve if an opportunity arose ... that we would accommodate him and this was one such opportunity."

The Heat were defeated by the Indiana Pacers 93-91 on Wednesday night, marking the second consecutive night Miami lost in overtime.

Shaquille O'Neal watched the game from the Miami bench, nursing a strained knee.

``They may be a little more fluid without him in there,'' Jermaine O'Neal said. ``When he's there, it's a big challenge for the big guys. Without him, they do a lot of things they don't usually do. But I knew I could get a shot over whichever guys they had.''

O'Neal finished with 29 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots as the Pacers won their fourth straight and their 11th in a row over the Heat.

With Shaq in the middle, the Miami Heat are still looking for perimeter shooters in which to surround their big man.  It has now been speculated that they will make a push for the veteran sharpshooter Steven Smith, a former Heat player who was dealt in 1994 for Kevin Willis.

The Bobcats have been contacted about Smith by both the Heat and Spurs, with whom Smith won the 2003 NBA title.  Smith has also expressed interest in playing for the team he started, Smith was drafted as the fifth pick in 1991 by the Miami Heat.  

"It would make perfect sense," agent Charles Tucker said Tuesday, with his client having spent his first three seasons in South Florida. "The Spurs definitely want him, but he would come to the Heat before he would come to the Spurs."

Smith will come cheap as well, because he is on a veteran?s minimum contract, his salary will only count $745,046 against the cap.

Shaquille O'Neal strained his left knee in the opening minutes of Tuesday's game after he went up for an alley-oop pass from Dwyane Wade and fell on Chicago's Othella Harrington.

O'Neal stayed on the floor for several minutes holding his knee before being helped off the floor. X-rays were negative and he will be re-evaluated before Wednesday's game at Indiana.

Miami ended up losing to the Bulls in overtime by a final score of 105-101.

Ben Gordon hit five 3-pointers in the 4th quarter, finishing the contest with 29 points.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is reporting that center Alonzo Mourning has passed his physical and the Heat have begun working with the former second overall pick, but with 15 players already on the roster the big question becomes who makes way for his signing?

Ira Winderman writes that the Heat will not ink Mourning to a contract until after the trade deadline, giving the team maximum leverage to possibly make a multi player deal to free up a spot for Mourning that way.

A prime trade target is thought to be Raptors forward Donyell Marshall, a 3-point threat who could help balance the floor when Eddie Jones or Damon Jones is out of the game.  The problem for the Heat though is creating a package attractive enough to the Raptors to accept while not destroying their nucleus.

The signing of Alonzo Mourning with the Miami Heat appears as though it will be delayed even longer.

Mourning was set to sign on Monday and travel with the team on Tuesday, but now he will not sign until Thursday, meaning the Heat will attempt to clear roster room by trading away one or more of their current players.

Last week Pat Riley indicated that he would be in a Heat uniform in Chicago on Tuesday.

In just his second season, Dwyane Wade is becomig one of the league's most popular players.

''Obviously, his skills are what they are and he's an exciting player to watch, but what he has been able to cultivate this year is an image of being just a solid, humble guy that really lets his game speak for itself in terms of his persona,'' said Henry Thomas, Wade's agent.

''I push for it when I'm talking to Converse about making me the face of Converse and about my new deal and stuff like that,'' Wade said. ``I'm going to push for it because I think if I continue to get better and my team constantly stays good, I think that fans can identify with the style of play that I have and little kids can identify with the way I am.

'I'm not the tallest guy, not the quickest, not the strongest. There are a lot of kids like me. There are a lot of kids nowadays that are going to be called `tweeners' that can go out there and produce, dunk and be exciting and all that. So I hope I can carry my own weight.''

Thomas is in the process of completing some major endorsement deals for Wade that include categories like fast food, beverages and video games.

Calling the move "a no-brainer" and saying "this is not about sentiment, this is about winning," Heat President Pat Riley confirmed a reunion with center Alonzo Mourning is impending writes Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Riley said he would hold off on signing his former captain until the completion of an extensive physical that began Tuesday. Mourning's first practice with the team likely will come next Monday in Chicago, with a return in his No. 33 jersey likely next Tuesday at the United Center against the Bulls.

"This is not sentimental," Riley stressed in an impromptu media session on the practice court. "We have an opportunity to get a big man, and if wasn't Alonzo, we would be searching out there to get another big man. We felt we needed another force up front."