A look at Heat’s injury situation entering postseason. Also, did Jaquez break through rookie wall?
The Miami Heat hopes its regular-season injury issues don’t continue in the postseason.
Unfortunately for the Heat, multiple rotation players are dealing with injuries that have put their status in question for the start of the postseason.
▪ Kevin Love, who has established himself as the Heat’s backup center, exited Sunday’s regular-season finale early with 22.8 seconds left in the first quarter and did not return because of a left upper arm contusion.
▪ Duncan Robinson, who has started in 17 consecutive appearances, missed the final four games of the regular season with a lingering back injury labeled as left facet syndrome. He initially missed five games last month with the back issue before returning to play in five games and then again being sidelined by the injury for the final four games of the regular season.
▪ Terry Rozier, who has started in 30 straight appearances, missed the final four games of the regular season with an injury listed as neck spasms.
Heat again faces play-in reality, this time on road vs. 76ers: ‘We know what we’re stepping into’
After closing the regular season in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, the Heat’s postseason will begin with a play-in tournament matchup against the seventh-place Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday at Wells Fargo Center (7 p.m. ESPN) for the right to the East’s No. 7 playoff seed.
When asked about Love’s injury following Sunday’s game, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra suggested that it wasn’t too serious.
“He got hit in the arm and it was like a stinger,” Spoelstra said of Love. “So we’ll see how he feels [Monday].”
As for Robinson, he was upgraded to questionable on the Heat’s injury report for Sunday’s game before being ruled out. That could be taken as encouraging news, but his status for the start of the postseason remains up in the air.
There’s also some uncertainty surrounding Rozier’s availability for the start of the postseason.
There’s cautious optimism that Rozier will be ready in the coming days to be available for Wednesday’s play-in game against the 76ers in Philadelphia, but he’s set to undergo further testing on his neck injury to determine his status. The Heat continues to label Rozier as day-to-day.
“He will not play today and that’s all I got for you,” Spoelstra said before Sunday’s game when asked whether Rozier will be back for the postseason. “We’ll give you an update when we get one, but he’s not ready to play today.”
Robinson and Rozier have both been sidelined for the last week with their injuries, as the last time they both played was in the Heat’s April 7 loss to the Pacers in Indianapolis.
“It’s been good for both of them,” Spoelstra said of the last week of recovery for Robinson and Rozier. “Both of those guys, their bodies will let us know. They’re making progress. I know how badly both of them want to be out here right now. But we’ll just continue to treat them.”
The Heat took Monday off and will practice at Kaseya Center on Tuesday before flying to Philadelphia for Wednesday’s game.
Whether Robinson, Rozier and/or Love are available for Wednesday’s play-in matchup against the 76ers is still to be determined, with more clarity expected when the Heat issues its injury report for the contest on Tuesday afternoon. The only Heat player definitively ruled out for Wednesday’s game is Josh Richardson, who will miss the rest of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery in early March.
WHAT ROOKIE WALL?
The past few weeks have been a struggle for Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr., but he turned in quality back-to-back performances against the Toronto Raptors to close the regular season.
After scoring 20 points and dishing out a career-high nine assists in Friday’s win over the Raptors, Jaquez recorded 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and 6-of-7 shooting from the foul line, four rebounds, five assists, one steal and two blocks in Sunday’s 118-103 regular-season finale victory over the Raptors.
Before this two game stretch, Jaquez averaged just 7.3 points and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 43.1 percent from the field and 29.4 percent shooting from three-point range in his previous 16 games.
Now, Jaquez enters the postseason with some momentum.
“Really important,” Spoelstra said following Sunday’s win when asked about Jaquez’s strong close to the regular season. “I just mentioned something to him in the locker room after the game that he looked like himself from earlier in the season. He has his legs under him, he’s healthy. I think he has a clear mind, he has 70-plus games under his belt. He feels good, I think he has an idea of what his role is right now. There’s clarity on that.
“We need his offensive production. We need him getting downhill, we need his post-ups, we need him creating something in those possessions when we get a little bit jammed up and he can create something out of nothing. You can see where he’s improved, his passing has improved, his play-making and we need all of that at this time of year.”
