Alonzo Mourning first thought he'd suffered a cramp. His team's medical staff feared it was a ruptured Achilles' tendon. The Miami Heat center was relieved to learn he had a torn right calf, an injury somewhere in the middle. "It is discouraging," Mourning said Friday. "But at the time same, I know it could have been worse. He injured his leg Wednesday night in the Heat's loss to the Detroit Pistons. He began rehabilitation on Saturday, and estimates he'll be sidelined three to four weeks. But he hasn't ruled out the idea of returning before Miami's regular season ends in Boston on April 19. "I'm going to make sure that I'm healthy before I come back," Mourning said. " It's important for me to be right before I step back on the court, especially going into the postseason. I don't want to risk coming back too early and injuring it again. It wouldn't be worth it." Mourning was having a fine season for the Heat, who were touting him as a defensive player of the year candidate. His 2.66 blocks per game rank fourth in the NBA, and that stat gets even more impressive considering he only averaged about 20 minutes of play. His contribution, though, wasn't only on the defensive end. He averaged 11.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.8 blocks in 20 games as Miami's starting center this season, filling in when Shaquille O'Neal was injured. And since Jan. 1, Mourning has made 68.8 percent of his shots from the floor. "If it's two to four weeks, then I'll be happy," Heat coach Pat Riley said. " He'll work very diligently to get it healthy. He'll stay in condition. Just as long as he's ready to play when it counts the most." In Mourning's absence, Michael Doleac -- who had a torn calf muscle at the start of the season -- will fill his role. Doleac had a season-high 14 points in Friday's 114-93 win over Charlotte. "Michael is not only deserving, but he's highly capable," Riley said. "He's as ready as anybody. He really gives us another dimension, a real dimension, at (center) that I think a lot of us forget. He's a great, great screener. He really gets people open and when he flares, he's got as quick a release as any big man." Doleac rehabbed his injury for three weeks, then reinjured it while running and wound up missing three more weeks. Mourning cannot afford to be out that long, not with the playoffs set to begin in four weeks. "Soft tissue injuries are tough," Doleac said. "You never know. It's just a tough injury to treat and deal with." Mourning sees a bit of a silver lining -- he's getting some time to rest his body before the playoffs begin. "It's an unfortunate circumstance," Mourning said. "But if I had to pick a time to get injured, I'd have picked this time, before we go into the postseason." -- MiamiHeat http://www.wretch.cc/album/album.php?id=zenwu&book=56 --

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