Dwyane Wade not joining Heat on 4-game road trip

Dwyane Wade said it would be a while before reporters saw him again, hinting at an extended absence due to a right hamstring strain.

The Miami Heat confirmed as much Friday, revealing that Wade won't be accompanying the team on their upcoming four-game road trip. The Heat are at home Friday but then take off for four games over six days, and it's conceivable that they'd also sit Wade out in their final two games before the All-Star Break, giving him nearly a month to rest in total.

Wade suffered the injury on Tuesday, starting immediate speculation that he could miss a sizable chunk of time. Wade missed seven games in November due to a left hamstring strain, a stretch during which the Heat went 3-4. Things will be even tougher to start this time around, as Luol Deng is also on the sideline, leaving the team thin on the wing.

Not that it would be easy to replace Wade with Deng and a cast of reserves: The 33-year-old All-Star is averaging 21.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists with improved offensive efficiency despite an enormous jump in usage rate, a difficult feat. As a result, the Heat have been 4.4 points per-100 possessions better with him on the floor, an important margin with the team struggling to hang on to an Eastern Conference playoff spot.