They don’t need him now, so no real reason for concern, even though back issues are something to monitor because they can linger throughout the season.
James was seen wearing a heat pack around his torso and lying down, attempting to stretch it out.
James didn’t rule out missing time to rest his back in the near future, but it’s likely he’ll play on Saturday when the Heat host the Boston Celtics.
“If I can’t get out of bed, I can’t show up here,” James said. “If I can’t give enough to help us be successful, then I won’t play. That’s the one thing I know I will do, but it wasn’t bad enough [on Thursday] to the point where I couldn’t help.”
“It ain’t a great feeling, I’ll tell you that,” James said, “especially at night when I’m trying to sleep.”