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PHILADELPHIA – With Erik Spoelstra expressing hope of his rotation to again soon be whole, reinforcements returned Saturday for the Miami Heat.
While Andrew Wiggins and Duncan Robinson remained behind for the start of the three-game trip opening with Saturday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Arena, Spoelstra said Saturday both are working toward a return.
Wiggins was listed as out due to right-hamstring tendinopathy.
“It’s been getting tight the last two games,” Spoelstra said after the morning shootaround at Temple University. “We feel this is the right step, right now. We will see how he progresses.”
It is the third ailment Wiggins has dealt with since being acquired at the Feb. 6 NBA trading deadline from the Golden State Warriors for Jimmy Butler. Wiggins previously missed one game with stomach illness, five with a sprained right ankle, and, most recently, two with a lower-leg contusion.
Factoring in sitting out his first game after the trade, it has had Wiggins out for 10 games and available for 15 since the trade. Among the reasons the Heat were reluctant to offer Butler the extension eventually granted by the Warriors was a lack of availability.
For Spoelstra, it is about empathy for Wiggins at this stage.
“There’s been a lot of things this year that you can’t even explain, different guys going out at not the most ideal times,” Spoelstra said of the Heat’s personnel and injury rollercoaster. “I know Wiggs just really wants to be out here. And everybody can see it – when he’s out there, he makes us different.”
Spoelstra said it became evident by the end of Thursday night’ victory over the Atlanta Hawks at Kesaya Center that further treatment was necessary.
“But we also have to be responsible right now and make sure it doesn’t turn into something else,” Spoelstra said. “By the time we got to the fourth quarter, it looked like he was gutting it out. With intensive treatment, his body should respond.”
As for Robinson, he now is listed as being out due to left-sacroiliac joint dysfunction. He previously had been listed out the previous two games due to lower-back pain. By NBA rule, injury listings must be more specific after being listed for two games with a general issue.
Robinson missed nine of the final 14 regular-season games last year with what was listed as left-facet syndrome, not himself thereafter during the postseason.
“It’s different than last year,” Spoelstra said. “We think we will be able to manage it. We want to be responsible and give as much treatment and then appropriate ramp-up.”
Spoelstra said Wiggins and Robinson continue to work toward a return.
“Now, the reason we left them back is they can do more work around the clock,” he said. “Our trainers seem encouraged. We’ll just have to see how they progress.”
In addition to Wiggins and Robinson, Nikola Jovic and Dru Smith also did not make the trip. Jovic only recently has resumed court work after breaking his right hand in the Feb. 23 road loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Smith is out for the season following December Achilles surgery.
Against that backdrop, undrafted rookie forward Keshad Johnson and two-way players Josh Christopher and Isaiah Stevens returned from the G League after the Heat’s affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, were eliminated from playoff contention.
“They’re ready,” Spoelstra said. “They just have to be plug-and-play if they do get an opportunity. The way things have gone with guys out, those minutes could be available.
“They’re ready physically, mentally, emotionally. Everybody is disappointed they didn’t make the playoffs but they made a heck of a run.”
Christopher and Stevens are ineligible for the postseason on their two-way contracts, with the Heat’s standard roster at the maximum 15 players.
Continue reading...
While Andrew Wiggins and Duncan Robinson remained behind for the start of the three-game trip opening with Saturday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Arena, Spoelstra said Saturday both are working toward a return.
Wiggins was listed as out due to right-hamstring tendinopathy.
“It’s been getting tight the last two games,” Spoelstra said after the morning shootaround at Temple University. “We feel this is the right step, right now. We will see how he progresses.”
It is the third ailment Wiggins has dealt with since being acquired at the Feb. 6 NBA trading deadline from the Golden State Warriors for Jimmy Butler. Wiggins previously missed one game with stomach illness, five with a sprained right ankle, and, most recently, two with a lower-leg contusion.
Factoring in sitting out his first game after the trade, it has had Wiggins out for 10 games and available for 15 since the trade. Among the reasons the Heat were reluctant to offer Butler the extension eventually granted by the Warriors was a lack of availability.
For Spoelstra, it is about empathy for Wiggins at this stage.
“There’s been a lot of things this year that you can’t even explain, different guys going out at not the most ideal times,” Spoelstra said of the Heat’s personnel and injury rollercoaster. “I know Wiggs just really wants to be out here. And everybody can see it – when he’s out there, he makes us different.”
Spoelstra said it became evident by the end of Thursday night’ victory over the Atlanta Hawks at Kesaya Center that further treatment was necessary.
“But we also have to be responsible right now and make sure it doesn’t turn into something else,” Spoelstra said. “By the time we got to the fourth quarter, it looked like he was gutting it out. With intensive treatment, his body should respond.”
As for Robinson, he now is listed as being out due to left-sacroiliac joint dysfunction. He previously had been listed out the previous two games due to lower-back pain. By NBA rule, injury listings must be more specific after being listed for two games with a general issue.
Robinson missed nine of the final 14 regular-season games last year with what was listed as left-facet syndrome, not himself thereafter during the postseason.
“It’s different than last year,” Spoelstra said. “We think we will be able to manage it. We want to be responsible and give as much treatment and then appropriate ramp-up.”
Spoelstra said Wiggins and Robinson continue to work toward a return.
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“Now, the reason we left them back is they can do more work around the clock,” he said. “Our trainers seem encouraged. We’ll just have to see how they progress.”
In addition to Wiggins and Robinson, Nikola Jovic and Dru Smith also did not make the trip. Jovic only recently has resumed court work after breaking his right hand in the Feb. 23 road loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Smith is out for the season following December Achilles surgery.
Against that backdrop, undrafted rookie forward Keshad Johnson and two-way players Josh Christopher and Isaiah Stevens returned from the G League after the Heat’s affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, were eliminated from playoff contention.
“They’re ready,” Spoelstra said. “They just have to be plug-and-play if they do get an opportunity. The way things have gone with guys out, those minutes could be available.
“They’re ready physically, mentally, emotionally. Everybody is disappointed they didn’t make the playoffs but they made a heck of a run.”
Christopher and Stevens are ineligible for the postseason on their two-way contracts, with the Heat’s standard roster at the maximum 15 players.
Continue reading...
