The latest injury concern for the Heat involves star forward Jimmy Butler, who sprained his ankle during the team’s home game against the Clippers on Friday, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes.
Miami is also currently dealing with injuries to primary ball-handlers Kendrick Nunn, Goran Dragic (calf) and Justise Winslow, making Butler’s absence a tougher pill to swallow.
“It’s a sprain,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said of Butler’s injury, as relayed by Winderman. “We’ll have to re-evaluate. I don’t even like commenting after sprained ankles. You have to wait until the next day to see how a guy feels. He’s getting treatment already and we’ll go from there.
“Same with Goran and K-Nunn. At least we have a couple of days before the next game and it’ll give them an opportunity to really get into the training room and get some treatment.”
Butler, Dragic, and Nunn are all listed as questionable to play on Monday against Orlando, with Bam Adebayo (ankle) probable and Winslow remaining out.
Miami is a half-game behind Toronto for the second-best record in the Eastern Conference at 31-14, sporting an impressive 20-2 record at home. Players such as Tyler Herro, Dion Waiters and James Johnson could receive more ball-handling responsibilities in the interim.
Here are some other notes out of Miami:
- Dion Waiters has taken full responsibility for his three suspensions this season, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Waiters finished with 14 points in 18 minutes against the Clippers in his first game of the season on Friday, making key late-game plays on both ends of the court. “I’m a grown man,” Waiters said. “I don’t point fingers. I could easily say this and that, but at the end of the day, it’s me. I made immature decisions. So, you know, I take full responsibility.”
- Ira Winderman ponders in a different Sun Sentinel article whether Waiters could become a trade chip for Miami before the February 6 deadline. Waiters will make $12.1MM this season and $12.65MM in 2020/21, currently serving as a third-string option at guard. During his tumultuous first half, he was viewed as virtually unmovable.
- Winderman also examined the front office role of Shane Battier, who played with the Heat for three seasons and won two championships. Battier currently serves as Miami’s Director of Basketball Analytics and Development.
Where are all the haters dunking on Waiters? Every time his name has been mentioned the last few weeks, some people have been on here talking trash about him.
I wonder if – maybe, just maybe – Waiters isn’t a bad guy after all? Maybe the Heat front office had a problem with him, they leaked some embarrassing stories, all so they could show him who’s really in charge.
But Pat Riley would never pull that kind of immature nonsense, right? Of course not.
He’s fine as long as he doesn’t eat too many THC gummies.
You really have a problem with Pat Riley, the same way the entire league does, which is why there are always certain narratives with the Heat, and why nobody wants to deal with them in trades. I’ve contended the entire time that the contract was only considered bad due to injuries, and should be movable
Also was awesome being at the arena as Dion got a loud ovation from the crowd
And you better believe Riley would do something like that. He let way too much stuff go with Whiteside the last few years. Even Lebron didnt get that type of treatment
Good point, and maybe why in a different article, Spoelstra was implying that the absence of Whiteside was a reason for Miami’s success, in a way not really about Whiteside directly, but in a convoluted way (like this sentence) about Whiteside indirectly, such that for instance more team discipine was now possible absent Whiteside’s ways.
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That would be cool, being among the Waiters ovation. Very Eastern.