Erik Spoelstra: 'Players stepped up without LeBron James'

Erik Spoelstra has praised his Miami Heat players for the way they handled seeing LeBron James on the sidelines with a broken nose on Sunday night.

James was unable to recover in time to step on the court, but the Heat managed to record a win in his absence by beating the Chicago Bulls 93-79.

"You don't want to see guys out," Heat coach Spoelstra told reporters. "But when guys are out, I'm always curious to see how you respond as a team.

"We've had several of these games that could have been excuse games, but guys have stepped up."

Greg Oden started an NBA game for the first time since December 2009 to replace James in the Miami lineup.