Miami point guard Jason Williams was on the inactive list for Thursday night's game against Phoenix, after cutting his right ring finger in a weightlifting mishap.

Williams needed six stitches to close the gash, which occurred Wednesday when he was working with a dumbbell. He's also been bothered throughout the season by knee tendinitis, which kept him out of Miami's other game against Phoenix this season -- a 111-93 road loss earlier this month.

It's the 12th time Williams has been on the inactive list this season, but the Heat apparently didn't expect him to be sidelined against the Suns. He was listed among the team's starters 90 minutes before gametime.

"He is vital and when we see him at his best ... then we're a very explosive team," Heat coach Pat Riley said, when asked before the game if he was concerned that the knee problems would limit Williams' availability for a four-game, five-night stretch that began Thursday.

The Miami Heat announced today that Dorell Wright and Earl Barron have been recalled from the Florida Flame of the NBA Development League. The two were assigned to the Heat?s D-League affiliate on January 3, helping the team to a 4-2 record in that time.

Wright appeared in six games for the Flame, averaging 12.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 20.7 minutes per game, while shooting 51.6 percent from the field. He recorded a team-high 32 points off the bench for the Flame, while shooting 15-for-22 from the field, and grabbed nine rebounds in 32 minutes on January 13 against the Roanoke Dazzle.

Shaquille O'Neal got the word from Hall of Famer Bill Russell to make peace with Kobe Bryant, just as Russell once did with Wilt Chamberlain.

O'Neal followed Russell's advice.

Bryant then went out and scored 12 of his 37 points in the last 8? minutes to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 100-92 victory over O'Neal and the Miami Heat on Monday night.

Bryant said O'Neal first approached him while he was stretching before the game and congratulated him on the birth of his daughter and the impending birth of a second child.

"It made me feel good," Bryant said, adding he was surprised at O'Neal's gesture. "We've been through so many wars together. Now, just be able to move on, try to do the best for this team, wish him the best in South Beach.

"I think it's good for the city of Los Angeles, good for the NBA, good for the youth, being Martin Luther King Day."

After the initial contact, they shook hands, embraced briefly and exchanged a few words at center court when the team captains and game officials met before the game. They exchanged another hug before the opening tipoff as the fans at the Staples Center voiced their approval.

"I had orders from the great Bill Russell," O'Neal said. "Me and him were talking in Seattle the other day, and he was telling me how rivalries should be. I asked him if he ever disliked anybody he played against, and he told me, 'No, never,' and he told that I should shake Kobe Bryant's hand and let bygones be bygones and bury the hatchet.

"Today is a day of peace. Dr. Martin Luther King was an ambassador of peace. So when I talked to Mr. Russell, he told me he said that him and Chamberlain spoke once or twice a week before he passed away. And even though people thought they hated each other, there was nothing but love there."

Heat guard Jason Williams was back in the lineup Sunday against the Blazers, but no one can say for sure when he'll next have to sit out.

Chronic right knee tendinitis has hampered Williams all season, forcing him to miss 10 of 35 games. Williams was a key part of the Heat's four-team trade last season, but so far he has been a part-time starter at point guard for the Heat.

"A lot of guys have tendinitis," said coach Pat Riley, who engineered the trade in his role as team president. "But we didn't think it was going to be a problem."

Williams, 30, is under contract for three seasons after this one. Williams, who has never missed more than 10 games in the past three seasons, has said he has dealt with tendinitis for a while now but wasn't sure when it first flared up.

Riley already had limited Williams' practice activity. Now he said he would restrict Williams even more, blaming Williams' scratch from the game at Phoenix on Friday on a hard practice the day before.

"No practice, that's all, I guess," Riley said. "I don't think we can practice him at all in a way that is going to be hard. ... I think you have got to be even more conscious."

Steve Nash may have dished out 12 assists in a 47-point first quarter for Phoenix as the Suns raced past the Miami Heat 111-93 on Friday night, but it was Heat coach Pat Riley who was grabbing the headlines.

Before the game Jim Gray asked Riley how often he thought of coaching when he was out of the job. Riley replied, "Not much at all."

Riley then said: "I was happy with what I was doing. I doubt I will be coaching after this season. I came back because I have an obligation and responsibility to this organization. I built this team ? but I really doubt I'll be back [coaching] next year."

Nash broke the franchise record and tied for second-most assists in a quarter in NBA history. Last season's league MVP finished with 19 assists and 11 points in Phoenix's sixth victory in seven games.

Miami Heat coach Pat Riley has signed a contract extension, the team announced Sunday without specifying any terms of the deal, including whether it addressed his role as coach or team president.

Riley did not address the extension on Sunday, when the Heat defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 97-70. Since taking over for Stan Van Gundy, who resigned as coach last month, Riley is 8-3 with Miami.

He is 362-273 in parts of nine seasons with the Heat, whom he's been with since the 1995-96 season -- when he signed a 10-year contact to be the team's coach and president. He led the Heat to six playoff appearances and resigned as coach shortly before the 2003-04 season, turning the job over to Van Gundy.