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With four stitches just below his chin as a result of a collision with Milwaukee Bucks center Larry Sanders in Tuesday's Game 2 of this opening-round playoff series, Battier was a bit scruffier than usual during Thursday's shootaround at the Al McGuire Center at Marquette University. "It's fine, but it's time for a playoff beard," he said with a smile. "A playoff beard is in order." South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Larry Sanders, Shane Battier 

LeBron James beat Ray Allen and Mario Chalmers in a long-range shooting contest after a Miami Heat practice on Monday, and demanded they pay their debt with 20 pushups. Very, very shoddy pushups. Shane Battier was wise to stay out of this contest. For The Win

Miami Heat, Ray Allen, LeBron James, Mario Chalmers, Shane Battier 

Mike Dunleavy told a great story about calling best friends Shane Battier and pretending to be Coach K. Sulia

Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Mike Dunleavy, Shane Battier 

“There’s an app you can get that goes right to somebody’s voice mail so you don’t have to let it ring,’’ Dunleavy said. “I called him up a few times pretending I was Coach K and wanted him to do all sorts of stupid stuff… I told him stuff like that shoe endorser, the Chinese company, is not cutting it. I told him to needs to do stuff on the court, like he’s shooting too many 3-pointers or stop taking charges, just to mess with him.’’ Sulia

Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Mike Dunleavy, Shane Battier 

The Miami Heat are the defending NBA champions and look to be favorites to repeat. One of their key players outside of the Big Three has been veteran forward Shane Battier, a defensive presence and threat from the three-point line who played a big role in their 27-game winning streak this season. During that streak, said that he drinks a Bud Light before every game as a ritual. If this new promotional campaign is to be believed, it looks like he’ll never have to buy his own beer again. For The Win

Miami Heat, Shane Battier 

Dwyane Wade LeBron James and Chris Bosh will be in the Miami Heat lineup against the Boston Celtics on Friday, the team announced. The Heat said that forwards Udonis Haslem and Shane Battier will not play. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra says Battier has an array of minor aches, and Haslem has a sprained ankle. Even with the Heat's Big Three returning, Friday's game in Miami will be lacking at least some star power. The Celtics plan to play without Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, both of whom are dealing with left ankle soreness. Pierce and Garnett are expected to be back in the lineup on Saturday night in Orlando. "We have back-to-backs and we're trying to avoid back-to-backs, to be honest," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who -- not surprisingly -- hints that the duo likely will sit again with a back-to-back to close the regular season next week. "I just thought this would be a way to do it. A lot of talk didn't go into it." ESPN.com

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem, Injuries, Shane Battier 

To hear LeBron James tell it, Chris Andersen converting his first 3-pointer in more than four years hardly was a shock Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena against the Milwaukee Bucks. James said he's seen it in practice from Birdman, when Ray Allen, James Jones, Shane Battier and Mario Chalmers are testing their 3-point range on game days. "They start shootaround out with knockout," James said of the drill when you attempt to make a shot before the person in line in front of you converts. "Ray, J.J., Shane, Rio and Bird. Bird has been in the finals before, I don't know if he has ever won one before, but he has been in the final with all those great shooters." Andersen's conversion at the shot-clock buzzer lifted him to 3 of 25 from beyond the arc over his career. South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Miami Heat, Ray Allen, LeBron James, James Jones, Mario Chalmers, Chris Andersen, Shane Battier 

The Professional Basketball Writers Association announced Heat forward Shane Battier was voted winner of the Magic Johnson award, given annually to the player who best combines excellence on the court with cooperation with media and fans. Nuggets coach George Karl won the Rudy Tomjanovich award, given annually to the coach who meets the same criteria. Chicago Tribune

Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat, George Karl, Shane Battier 

Howard Beck: Shane Battier is 2013 winner of the Magic Johnson Award, presented by Pro Bball Writers Assoc, for his cooperation w/media and fans. Twitter @HowardBeckNYT

Miami Heat, Media, Shane Battier 

Miami Heat forward Shane Battier, who has played several pickup basketball games with women over the years, predicts that the NBA is not far away from having its first female player. "There's no doubt that in our lifetime, there will be a woman NBA player," Battier told ESPN.com after Thursday's Heat practice at AmericanAirlines Arena. ESPN.com

Miami Heat, Shane Battier, Brittney Griner 

In terms of the first woman to play in the NBA, is Griner the one? "I don't know if it's Griner or if it's someone who is 5 years old right now," Battier said. "But we'll see it. It'll happen in our lifetime. Just the law of averages." When asked what type of player that breakthrough athlete might be, Battier said it likely would be a quick, athletic female guard rather than a taller player such as Griner. Battier pointed to his own teammate, LeBron James, as a comparison of combined athleticism and strength. "I don't think it would be out of the realm of possibility that [one day] we'll see a female LeBron," Battier said. "You could be the most skilled player in the world that the women's game has ever seen, but that won't cut it in the NBA. She'd have to be a physical specimen." ESPN.com

Miami Heat, Shane Battier, Brittney Griner 

The Heat in 2010-11 were an ultratalented team that took all that talent and played just like everyone else. The Heat in 2012-13 are a team that has developed a deep understanding of its talent and crafted a system around that talent; they no longer play like everyone else, something coaches, scouts, players, and front-office executives confirmed in conversations with Grantland over the last few weeks. Post-2010 free-agency signings explain some of the evolution, especially the acquisitions of Ray Allen and Shane Battier. The latter stands as perhaps the most impactful non-star signing any team has made in that stretch; Battier has both allowed Miami to play small ball more often by taking on power forwards and contributed to the team's increased emphasis on 3-point shooting. The 2010-11 Heat ranked 10th in both corner-3 attempts and midrange shots; only Houston has taken more corner 3s this season, and Miami ranks toward the bottom of the league in midrange shots, per NBA.com. Grantland

Miami Heat, Ray Allen, Shane Battier 

Battier was on the Dan Patrick radio show Monday, and you can listen above to 2:41 of Florida Gulf Coast NCAA talk or fast forward straight to the Miami Heat talk if you want. Battier focuses on team chemistry and how the team is about the process and not flipping the switch — but LeBron James can pretty much do that if he wants. Just some more perspective on the Heat’s run at legacy — this streak with a title at the end of it will put this team in the discussion of the NBA’s great teams. NBCSports.com

Miami Heat, Shane Battier 

Yes, Shane Battier, master of 32-, 27-, 22-game winning streaks, has entered the lottery during a streak. Details: “Oh, yeah, I’ve tested my luck at various establishments, to no avail,’’ the Miami Heat forward told FOX Sports Florida. “A couple of scratch-off Lotto tickets.’’ When he had a 22-game winning streak with the Houston Rockets in 2007-08, Battier figured everything was going so well that the might as well try the lottery. He did not add to the $5.9 million salary he made that season. With that in mind, Battier has abstained from the Florida Lottery during the Heat’s winning streak, which reached 27 with Monday’s 108-94 win at Orlando. “I don’t want to use up all my luck,’’ Battier said. Battier also had a 32-game winning streak at Duke in 1998-99. Sulia

Miami Heat, Shane Battier 

"There's no talk of numbers in this locker room," Battier said. "It doesn't matter. We know the number is almost arbitrary, because this is all part of a grand plan, a bigger plan than we're on right now. We've done a pretty good job of just focusing on the task at hand." USA Today Sports

Miami Heat, Shane Battier 

As forward Shane Battier said late Wednesday night in Cleveland, “Athletes are all superstitious and even if they don’t admit it, there’s a routine and just a cadence to our days. Especially when things go well, you can see us try to replicate it.” Exactly. Just what we suspected. And yours are … “Nope,” Battier said. “Well, I try to drink the same beer – Bud Light – but that’s about it. You never know. I don’t want to chance luck and switch up brands, so I’m staying loyal to Bud Light.” NBA.com

Miami Heat, Shane Battier 

And, now, five years later, Miami's Shane Battier sits in this locker room and swears he never needed the passing of time, nor the context of playing for a champion, to understand how downright dumbfounding of an accomplishment 22 victories for him and the Chuck Hayes and Luis Scolas of the sport had been in '08. "We knew back then that it was one of the most improbable runs in basketball history – maybe even in sports history," Battier told Yahoo! Sports. "We were journeymen, a bunch of role players. When we were healthy – with Yao and Tracy – that team was pretty good. But we could never stay healthy. "That was our championship." Yahoo! Sports

Miami Heat, Shane Battier 

Ethan J. Skolnick: When I asked Battier for any athlete as currently dominant as LeBron, his immediate answer was Djokovic. Twitter @EthanJSkolnick

Miami Heat, Shane Battier, Novak Djokovic 

Of the four previous 20-game streakers in NBA history, only the Lakers and Bucks went on to win the title. The Lakers, also featuring Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West, cruised to a then-record 69-13 regular-season record before claiming the team's first championship in Los Angeles. The Bucks went 66-16 before winning what remains the only title in team history. The Capitols ended up losing in the 1949 Finals. And the Rockets couldn't even get out of the first round of the playoffs following a 55-27 season that featured their crazy streak. "That was the most lightning-in-a-bottle moment of my career," said Heat forward Shane Battier, who was on the 2007-08 Rockets and Wednesday became the first player in NBA history to be on two teams that had winning streaks of 20 games or more. "That came out of nowhere… It was the most out-of-left-field run I've ever been part of… We weren't a championship team because of our injuries." FOXSports Florida

Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Shane Battier 

This season, Battier has taken 260 shots and 230 have been three-pointers, including 110 three-point attempts out of 123 shots since Jan. 1. Nearly 90% -- 88.5% to be precise — of Battier's shots have been three-pointers, the largest percentage of three-pointers he has taken in his career. "I don't shoot too many two-pointers anymore," Battier told USA TODAY Sports. USA Today Sports

Miami Heat, Shane Battier