NBA AROUND THE LEAGUE

Alonzo Mourning will have a spot on the Miami Heat playoff roster, even though he’s still not expected to play this season.

Coach Pat Riley said he would make the move as a precaution because he has been burned before by the NBA freeze on postseason rosters. Mourning is being treated for a kidney ailment discovered last October.

Riley said his comments don’t reflect any change in the prognosis that Mourning will miss the entire regular season and the playoffs.

But if the Heat left Mourning off the roster at the start of the playoffs, the all-star center would be unavailable for the rest of the postseason, even if he were later given medical clearance to play.

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Hakeem Olajuwon, who has played a key role in the Rockets’ surge to playoff contention, will miss the next two games because of a strained right calf. . . . New York forward Larry Johnson and New Jersey guard Lucious Harris missed Friday night’s Knicks-Nets game because of injuries. Johnson sat because of a chronically sore back and Harris was out with a strained right calf.