Miami ? Dwyane Wade still is weighing his options.

The Miami Heat don’t have the same luxury.

If Wade has surgery to repair his dislocated left shoulder, last season’s NBA finals MVP won’t return this season. If Wade chooses rehabilitation and rest, he may return in six weeks, perhaps with 10 games or so left.

But if Miami cannot find a way to win without him, the whole discussion is moot.

The Heat are only one game ahead of New Jersey for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot, have struggled mightily without Wade and his 28.8 points per game this season, and know another extended slump could prove to be the end of their run as NBA champions.

“There’s one constant about this game: The games are going to continue to come. So we’ve got to be ready to play, no matter what,” Heat guard Eddie Jones said. “We hope the best for him. Hopefully he comes back quick. But the games are going to come, and we’ve got to play without him.”

Wade hasn’t talked about the injury since the shoulder popped out when he collided with Houston’s Shane Battier on Wednesday night. He wasn’t at Saturday’s practice.

His absence figures to make the playoff road easier for many teams. But Cleveland star LeBron James, whose Cavaliers visit Miami today, is less than thrilled about Wade’s plight.

“It’s definitely tough, and I’m definitely not happy about it,” James said. “It’s a bad situation for a very good friend of mine, and I know he’s not dealing with it so well. It’s definitely going to hurt that team.”

On Saturday, the Heat hit the practice floor for the first time since Wade suffered the injury, trying to find some ways of replacing the points and assists and ballhandling and all the other things Wade did on a night-in, night-out basis.

There isn’t much time to find a solution.

The Heat (26-28) play host to Cleveland (32-23) today, visit New York (25-31) Monday, are scheduled to meet President Bush at the White House on Tuesday and then play in Washington (31-22) on Wednesday.

Given the Heat’s precarious grip on a playoff spot and the uncertainty over Wade’s health, meeting the president may be the only relaxing part of the next few days.

“All of a sudden, we’ve become a bunch of amateurs. All of a sudden, we don’t have a shot. All of a sudden, all of these things start to come out,” Heat coach Pat Riley said. “We’re 41â2 games, basically, out of a home-court spot in the playoffs. … It’s up to us. It’s really up to us to step forward.”

And although the Heat are clearly stronger with Wade, they think they can be good enough without him.

Shaquille O’Neal missed much of the season’s first half with a knee injury, yet has looked strong of late. Jason Williams is back from an abdominal tear. Add Alonzo Mourning, Gary Payton, Antoine Walker, three-point shootout winner Jason Kapono, James Posey and Jones to the mix, and there’s some reason to see optimism.

“I still think we’ve got a lot of guys out here that can play the game,” Jones said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that in the past have been No. 1 scorers on their team, a lot of guys who’ve been All-Stars, guys that just know this game. If any team can probably hold ship afloat until he comes back, I think this is one of them.”

The lineup will change, naturally, with Wade sidelined. Riley said O’Neal and Mourning could be put on the floor together at times; that’s been a rarity, but a teaming that could create openings for shooters like Kapono. Jones or Posey will likely go into the starting lineup in Wade’s spot.

The team isn’t pressuring Wade to announce his decision, but Riley said he, team owner Micky Arison and members of the medical staff intend to meet with him soon to further discuss the options.

“Dwyane’s a warrior. He’s a real soldier,” Riley said. “He wants to win, wants his team to win, and I think he’s going to make the best decision that’ll be in the best interest of the Heat and himself.”