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What seemed to be a four-man battle for the Heat's starting point guard job is down to a two-man race. For now. Injuries left the Miami Heat with just two available point guards for Tuesday's practice at Bercy Arena in preparation for Thursday's preseason game against the New Jersey Nets.

Chris Quinn and Shaun Livingston missed the two-hour workout and will likely sit out the first of Miami's two exhibition games in Europe. The Heat plays the Nets again on Sunday in London as part of the NBA's Europe Live Tour.

Quinn sprained his left ankle late in Sunday's overtime loss to Detroit in the preseason opener. The Heat continues to take a cautious approach with Livingston, who is in the final stages of recovering from a devastating injury to his left knee that has sidelined him the past 20 months. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after Tuesday's practice that Quinn and Livingston experienced some swelling during the team's eight-hour flight from Miami that landed in Paris at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

''Everything's minor right now,'' Spoelstra said. ``That flight kind of swelled things up slightly. They both could have moved around better if we were in Miami. We'll see how [they] are feeling tomorrow.''

Quinn, the likely front-runner for the starting job, received treatment on the ankle before and after Tuesday's practice and is scheduled to receive more treatment Wednesday. For now, the bulk of the workload falls on veteran backup Marcus Banks and rookie Mario Chalmers. Both spent time with the first-team offense in the two-hour session.

Source: Miami Herald