Flu slows Dragic’s opening-night bid

MIAMI — Goran Dragic’s frustrating preseason got even worse when he came down with the flu last week, but he is optimistic about being close to full strength for opening night.

Dragic came off the summer below his usual endurance level in part because he opted not to train with the Slovenian national team in the offseason and has struggled to regain his burst. The flu knocked him out for two days, costing him the chance to play in Miami’s preseason finale, and he was not totally back to normal Monday.

“It’s coming back,” he said. “I feel much better. I was surprised in the first practice back (Sunday) that my conditioning was pretty good.”

When Miami hosts the Hornets on Wednesday, it will be the first time Dragic plays a real game alongside Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Hassan Whiteside and Luol Deng. That starting five appeared together twice in the preseason.

Dragic enlivened the Heat after they trad- ed for him at the deadline last season, but has looked winded this month and finished the preseason with averages of 6.7 points and 3.7 assists in 23.5 minutes per game while shooting 37.2 percent.

Nearly full go: Miami had everyone available for Monday’s practice except backup center Amar’e Stoudemire.

The team has been holding Stoudemire out of practices and games in preseason as part of a maintenance plan for his knees, and it is unclear how consistently he will play once the season begins.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Stoudemire will be available against Charlotte.

“But we’re looking at the big picture,” he said. “We want to continue to build his leg strength and condition him and get him back at a healthy rate. Basically him and Josh (McRoberts) are going through the same thing, so we just want to make sure they’re strong and healthy all season.”

McRoberts, coming off surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee, said he will play Wednesday.

James Ennis, who dislocated the ring finger on his left, non-shooting hand, practiced Monday and is expected to be fine for the opener.

Soft open: The Heat have looked shaky during the preseason, especially with their starting five on the floor, but they have somewhat of a cushion in the schedule.

Once they get through the first week, which includes games against the Cavaliers, Rockets and Hawks, 10 of their ensuing 11 games are against teams that missed the playoffs last year.

Miami also starts with 14 of its first 19 games at home.

“We have a unique opportunity with this group, especially with all the home games we have early,” Bosh said. “We have a very top-heavy schedule, home-wise.

“So we’ll have a lot of time, a lot of practice time, a lot of time to really get acclimated with each other and hopefully get off to a good start.”