Bam may be back; Butler remains out
Some Heat players out with COVID protocols have a potential to return for Saturday’s game against the Pistons, but Jimmy Butler and Avery Bradley have been ruled out again.
Help could be on the way for the Heat this weekend, but the roster will still be shorthanded.
After playing the past two games — two road losses to the Philadelphia 76ers — with the NBA minimum of eight available players because of COVID-19 issues, six of the eight Heat players who have been out because of the league’s health and safety protocols have been upgraded to questionable for Saturday’s game against the Pistons.
On Friday evening’s NBAmandated injury report, Bam Adebayo, Goran Dragic, Moe
Harkless, Udonis Haslem, Kendrick Nunn and KZ Okpala were listed as questionable for Saturday’s contest after they missed the previous two games because of
the health and safety protocols.
But Heat All-Star wing Jimmy Butler and veteran guard Avery Bradley have been ruled out for the third consecutive game because of the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols. Center Meyers Leonard will also miss Saturday’s contest because of a left shoulder strain.
Miami also listed guard Tyler Herro (neck spasms) and two-way contract guard Gabe Vincent (right knee soreness) as questionable.
The expectation this week has been that Heat players who have been held out because of contact tracing could potentially play in Saturday’s game if they continue to return negative tests, with another round of tests scheduled for Saturday prior to the game. At least one Heat player tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days.
The team did not identify who tested positive. Heat players who were found to be close contacts but did not test positive were flown back