Dallas ? Heat guard Dwyane Wade said his rash of nagging injuries has forced him to “pick his spots” when he pushed his body.

Now, he is picking his games. The accumulation of finger, shoulder and knee injuries forced Wade to miss most of Friday’s game against the Mavericks, who won, 94-89, at the American Airlines Center.

Wade’s absence further depleted an injury-riddled team that already was without starters Shaquille O’Neal, Jason Williams and Dorell Wright.

With Alonzo Mourning lost for the season to knee surgery and Smush Parker out indefinitely for a conduct violation, the Heat had just nine players available for Friday’s game.

Wade missed the first seven games of the season while he recovered from offseason surgery on his left knee and left shoulder. He had played in 25 consecutive games. But Wade, who had been playing through stiffness in his surgically repaired knee, added two more injuries when he jammed his right pinkie and aggravated his bruised right shoulder in Wednesday’s loss to the Bucks.

Wade repeatedly has said he would no longer talk about his injuries. But he indicated Thursday that it had grown difficult to play his usual relentless style because of the pain.

“I’m not complaining about nothing,” Wade said. “You just have to pick your spots more. Some games you can be reckless, some games you can’t.”

Wade did not participate in Friday’s shootaround. The team listed Wade’s status as day-to-day for Sunday’s game at Memphis. The Heat has four games remaining on its trip.

The Heat opened Friday with a lineup of second-year player Chris Quinn and rookie Daequan Cook in the backcourt, Ricky Davis at small forward, Udonis Haslem at power forward and Mark Blount at center.

“It’s a huge adjustment to be missing so many key guys,” said Haslem, the lone starter to play every game this season.

“But at the same time, we still have to go out and play every night against a team that doesn’t care what our record is or what our situation is. They don’t feel bad for us. We can’t feel bad.”

But the Heat has felt more than its share of pain throughout the roster. Williams missed his fifth game in a row with right knee inflammation. Wright, who did not travel with the team, missed his second game with a sprained left ankle. O’Neal has been out four games with bruised hips.

Without the four starters, the Heat was missing a combined 55 points, 20 rebounds and 15 assists from its lineup.

“These are tough times for us,” coach Pat Riley said.