James Jones misses Game 1 of Finals due to migraine

OKLAHOMA CITY —    Erik Spoelstra's eight-man rotation apparently was supposed to be a nine-man rotation if forward James Jones had not suffered a migraine shortly before the Miami Heat's 105-94 Tuesday night loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Following the loss in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, when asked why he had gone with such a tight rotation and whether he planned to do it again in Thursday's Game 2, Spoelstra said somewhat cryptically, "Yeah, I'm going to have to see who's really available. You know, going into this game we were going to try to keep a tight rotation, maybe not as tight as it was, and give this our best shot.  But I'll probably try to go a little bit deeper in Game 2."

Shortly after that comment, a Heat spokesman clarified that Jones took migraine medication Tuesday, with the team hopeful he could make it to the court, which he could not.

Spoelstra wouldn't up playing only six players for more than 10 minutes, with the Heat outscored 58-40 in the second half.

Asked if fatigue had done in his team, Spoelstra said, "I don't know.  We played big minutes. They had a couple guys that played big, big minutes, as well. You know, because of the circumstances, I had to shorten the rotation, but I'll probably make that change and find out who will be available in the next game. "


(sun-sentinel.com)