LeBron James will start in Miami's game against undefeated New Orleans on Friday night despite an injured shin.

James sat out the team's practice on Thursday because of the injury, but took part in Friday's shootaround.

"He went through the whole shootaround, and he's feeling better and he's ready to play," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

"If we really needed him, and it wasn't a back-to-back, he could have practiced yesterday."