MIAMIâ€"
â€" Heat forward LeBron James had little interest in addressing anything involving the flagrant foul Tyson Chandler drew in Game 1.
To James, it was a thing of the past. He's already moved on from the incident.
"I'm focused on Game 2," James said before Monday's game. "Game One is a wrap. Whatever happened in Game 1 is over with. I'm just trying to compete. Tyson is a great player. I love to compete against him, compete against their team, but [Game 2] is what it's about."
The play surfaced again during the morning shootaround when Chandler spoke with media for the first time about it. He drew the foul after setting a hard screen on James in the first half.
It appeared Chandler leaned in with his shoulder, leaving James on the court in pain. It was originally called a flagrant2 before being downgraded. James said Sunday he was still experiencing neck soreness.
Chandler said causing injury was not his intent and felt it was a clean play.
"I wasn't trying to be dirty," Chandler said. "I know it probably looked worse than it actually was, but my intention is never to hurt anybody. I appreciate LeBron's game, so I would never want to take him off the floor, especially with seeing [Knicks guard Iman Shumpert] get hurt."
Chandler said he felt the public reaction went overboard.
"I didn't see the replay, so I don't know honestly," Chandler said. "But like I said, it wasn't malicious or anything like that. I was trying to set a good hard pick, playoff pick, and I got a flagrant for it. I didn't even think it was a foul."
Bosh working off rust
Forward Chris Bosh showed signs of rust after missing the last six games of the regular season with a sore hamstring. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said establishing Bosh early could speed up the process of him regaining comfort.
"He had some good opportunities in the paint but he also gave us big plays defensively on the glass," Spoelstra said. "That's the most important thing. He missed some chippies, that probably was due to a lack of rhythm but he got some work in yesterday and shootaround (Monday). He will progressively get better."
Spoelstra admitted Bosh wasn't fully healthy. Bosh was expected to play between 28 to 34 minutes in Game 2.
Guard Dwyane Wade said it's a matter of Bosh getting back on track.
"I thought we did a good job of trying to get him closer to the basket last game," Wade said. "You could see his rhythm was off a little bit. … As a guy gets those layups, things start to open up."
No let up for Heat
Wade did not need to watch the end of the Memphis Grizzlies-Los Angeles Clippers Sunday game in order to know the Heat have to play an entire 48 minutes.
The Clippers' rally from 27 points down in the third quarter was just a refresher that no lead is safe in the playoffs.
"You've got to play this game for 48 minutes," Wade said. "I think Reggie Miller showed it better than anybody against the Knicks [in the 1995 playoffs]. No matter how much time is left, you've got to finish it out."
Wade also referred to Game 2 of last year's NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. The Heat blew a 15-point in the fourth quarter in a game that ultimately swayed momentum. The Mavs went on to win the series 4-2.
Spoelstra has stressed to the team to avoid overconfidence. The Heat won't gain control until winning a game on the Knicks' home court. The series goes to New York on Thursday for Game 3 at Madison Square Garden.
"We haven't even held serve," Spoelstra said. "We started off the first game of the series on the right note, but that doesn't guarantee or ensure anything."
Added James: "We're a veteran ball club. That's what coaches do. We understand that it's just one game. … We have veteran guys that understand a series is never won on one game and it doesn't matter if you win by 37 or you win by one."
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