Two days after attempting to play through a strained right shoulder and shooting 1-for-9 at Indiana, Daequan Cook sat out Sunday in the Heat's 95-87 victory over the Chicago Bulls. Cook slept on his decision about whether to play through his strained right shoulder. That was his first mistake.
"I sleep kind of wild," he said.
"When you sleep, you can't really control how you sleep," he said of waking up in pain consecutive mornings. "We've got a back-to-back coming up, so hopefully I'll look forward to playing in that."
Cook was injured during a Thursday training session and said he probably made a mistake playing against the Pacers.
"Yeah, somewhat," he said.
Coach Erik Spoelstra said Friday's appearance did not contribute to any sort of setback.
"He wanted to play. He wanted to give it a go," Spoelstra said of signing off on Cook's participation Friday. "It wasn't really something that we thought would get worse. But it didn't get any better so we had to re-evaluate it."
Cook said he is hopeful of a return for Tuesday's home game against the Phoenix Suns. The Heat then leaves immediately for a Wednesday game in Washington against the Wizards.
With Cook out, Dorell Wright was utilized as the first wing off the bench against the Bulls after being held out of Friday's victory in Indiana and being utilized only during garbage time in the season-opening rout of the Knicks.
HEAT 95, BULLS 87: The Heat showed distinct grit in holding off the Bulls. Power forward Udonis Haslem, who has been cast as a reserve for the first time in six seasons, sparked the Heat with 19 points and 11 rebounds. A total team effort kept the pressure off Dwyane Wade, who deferred on the game's biggest plays to Haslem and Quentin Richardson. They, in turn, converted timely jumpers.
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