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MIAMI — A game after Tyler Herro was sidelined by a thigh contusion, Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo surfaced on the team’s injury report Monday with back spasms.
That left the Heat working through the morning shootaround at Kaseya Center with five players listed as questionable for Monday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers at Kaseya Center:
— Adebayo with his back spasms.
— Herro with his thigh contusion.
— Andrew Wiggins with hamstring tendinopathy.
— Alec Burks with lower-back discomfort.
— Haywood Highsmith with Achilles soreness.
That was with the Heat already having ruled out Nikola Jovic (broken hand), Dru Smith (Achilles surgery), Isaiah Stevens (foot discomfort) and Kevin Love (personal reasons).
The only certainty on the team’s midday injury report was guard Duncan Robinson being listed as available after previously missing time due to left sacroiliac joint dysfunction.
From there, the Heat announced 90 minutes before tipoff that Adebayo and Wiggins would be out, with Herro and Bucks available.
Adebayo went into Monday having missed just two games this season, the Jan. 13 road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers and the Feb. 13 road loss to the Dallas Mavericks due to a knee contusion.
“Really just since the game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the onset of Adebayo’s back spasms acting up in the wake of Saturday night’s overtime loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. “We’ll treat him day to day. Everybody’s comfortable stepping up right now.”
Wiggins entered the week having missed the previous five games with the hamstring issue, saying Saturday he expected to be back this week.
“He’s progressed really well,” Spoelstra said. “We feel really encouraged by the work. He had a really good workout yesterday. He went through the full shootaround today. He’s very close.’
Herro went into Monday having missed four games, all Heat losses.
Burks had missed seven consecutive games last month with a back strain.
Those two both were cleared just prior to Monday night’s game.
Highsmith went into Monday having yet to miss a game due to injury or illness, his only absences coming by coach’s decision.
For Jovic, Monday marked his 24th consecutive absence since breaking his right hand in the Feb. 23 road loss to the Bucks.
Smith has been out since Feb. 23, later undergoing season-ending surgery.
Stevens injured his right foot during pregame warmups before Saturday night’s overtime loss to the visiting Bucks.
Love missed his sixth consecutive game Monday due to family reasons, having also missed additional time earlier this season also for family reasons.
Robinson had been out five games with the back issue before returning in Thursday night’s home loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
While the Heat have been trying to hold it together physically ahead of next week’s play-in round, the 76ers essentially have let go of the rope in favor of lottery seeding.
That had listed out for Monday
While the Heat are assured of the franchise’s first losing record since 2018-19, play-in seeding remains at stake, which Spoelstra said is reason enough to push forward.
“Just because it’s not exactly where you want to be in the standings doesn’t mean that you have to think less than because of where we think we should be,” Spoelstra said. “These games have a great feel to ’em. They’re competitive and if you’re a competitor, then this is what you want, this is what you live for.
“We’re trying to do what we do that leads to winning more consistently.”
That makes Wednesday night’s game in Chicago particularly important, considering it could go a long way toward determining homecourt between the teams in a potential Nos. 9-10 play-in matchups.
“It’s always easier to win at home, obviously,” Bulls guard Kevin Huerter told Chicago media. “It’s a long trip to get down to Miami.”
Said Bulls coach Billy Donovan, “I just want our guys to understand where we’re at. Really, all any team can do at this point is control what they can control.”
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That left the Heat working through the morning shootaround at Kaseya Center with five players listed as questionable for Monday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers at Kaseya Center:
— Adebayo with his back spasms.
— Herro with his thigh contusion.
— Andrew Wiggins with hamstring tendinopathy.
— Alec Burks with lower-back discomfort.
— Haywood Highsmith with Achilles soreness.
That was with the Heat already having ruled out Nikola Jovic (broken hand), Dru Smith (Achilles surgery), Isaiah Stevens (foot discomfort) and Kevin Love (personal reasons).
The only certainty on the team’s midday injury report was guard Duncan Robinson being listed as available after previously missing time due to left sacroiliac joint dysfunction.
From there, the Heat announced 90 minutes before tipoff that Adebayo and Wiggins would be out, with Herro and Bucks available.
Adebayo went into Monday having missed just two games this season, the Jan. 13 road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers and the Feb. 13 road loss to the Dallas Mavericks due to a knee contusion.
“Really just since the game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the onset of Adebayo’s back spasms acting up in the wake of Saturday night’s overtime loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. “We’ll treat him day to day. Everybody’s comfortable stepping up right now.”
Wiggins entered the week having missed the previous five games with the hamstring issue, saying Saturday he expected to be back this week.
“He’s progressed really well,” Spoelstra said. “We feel really encouraged by the work. He had a really good workout yesterday. He went through the full shootaround today. He’s very close.’
Herro went into Monday having missed four games, all Heat losses.
Burks had missed seven consecutive games last month with a back strain.
Those two both were cleared just prior to Monday night’s game.
Highsmith went into Monday having yet to miss a game due to injury or illness, his only absences coming by coach’s decision.
For Jovic, Monday marked his 24th consecutive absence since breaking his right hand in the Feb. 23 road loss to the Bucks.
Smith has been out since Feb. 23, later undergoing season-ending surgery.
Stevens injured his right foot during pregame warmups before Saturday night’s overtime loss to the visiting Bucks.
Love missed his sixth consecutive game Monday due to family reasons, having also missed additional time earlier this season also for family reasons.
Robinson had been out five games with the back issue before returning in Thursday night’s home loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
While the Heat have been trying to hold it together physically ahead of next week’s play-in round, the 76ers essentially have let go of the rope in favor of lottery seeding.
That had listed out for Monday
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With meaning
While the Heat are assured of the franchise’s first losing record since 2018-19, play-in seeding remains at stake, which Spoelstra said is reason enough to push forward.
“Just because it’s not exactly where you want to be in the standings doesn’t mean that you have to think less than because of where we think we should be,” Spoelstra said. “These games have a great feel to ’em. They’re competitive and if you’re a competitor, then this is what you want, this is what you live for.
“We’re trying to do what we do that leads to winning more consistently.”
That makes Wednesday night’s game in Chicago particularly important, considering it could go a long way toward determining homecourt between the teams in a potential Nos. 9-10 play-in matchups.
“It’s always easier to win at home, obviously,” Bulls guard Kevin Huerter told Chicago media. “It’s a long trip to get down to Miami.”
Said Bulls coach Billy Donovan, “I just want our guys to understand where we’re at. Really, all any team can do at this point is control what they can control.”
Continue reading...
