South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Knee soreness again sidelines Lowry
The Miami Heat’s personnel picture grew a bit more complex on dual fronts with the team announcing that veteran point guard Kyle Lowry was sidelined for Saturday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks due to soreness in his left knee.
The ailment not only took Lowry out of the final stop of the Heat’s four-game trip but also clouded the perspective about Lowry potentially standing as a trade chip for Thursday’s 3 p.m. NBA trading deadline.
“We’re going to evaluate him when we get back to Miami,” coach Erik Spoelstra said after his team’s morning shootaround at Marquette University.
Lowry had a minor procedure on the knee when he missed four games from Jan 10 through Jan. 16. He then had appeared in eight consecutive games before Saturday’s absence.
“It’s the same knee,” Spoelstra said. “It just got swollen a little bit. We’ll get him back to Miami and recalibrate.”
Even with uneven play lately that has left him largely shuffled out of Spoelstra’s fourth-quarter mix in recent weeks, Lowry, 36, has been reported to have attracted interest from teams looking for an immediate veteran upgrade at point guard, including the Los Angeles Clippers and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Should the knee be required to be drained, that could diminish such immediate interest.
The Heat’s lone game between Saturday’s night and Thursday’s trading deadline is Wednesday night at Miami-Dade Arena against the Indiana Pacers.
Lowry’s absence comes with guard Victor Oladipo dealing with a sprained right ankle that sidelined him for Thursday night’s loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
“He’s making some progress,” Spoelstra said of Oladipo. “When we get back to Miami, we have three days in between the next game so we’ll see how he goes from there.”
In addition, two-way player Jamal Cain, who otherwise could have helped boost the Heat’s bench depth, has been sidelined for the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, due to a dental procedure.
In addition, the Heat continue to remain without four other players: Orlando Robinson (thumb), Duncan Robinson (finger), Omer Yurtseven (ankle) and Nikola Jovic (back).
All the while, guard Gabe Vincent has been playing through what the team has been listing as right ankle inflammation.
Herro’s moment
The Heat roster showed up Friday night at Whitnall High School just outside of Milwaukee for the retirement of Tyler Herro’s No. 14 jersey.
Included was a video of Herro’s high school achievements, which led to a laugh from Herro regarding his Heat teammates.
“They’ll probably tell me I need to play some more defense,” he said. “They heard the 1.9 steals I was averaging during my high school days. They’re going to want some more of that out of me, for sure.”
Herro, 23, also was emotional, stressing that as early as third grade his singular basketball goal had been making the high school varsity.
“The varsity team was my dream,” he said. “It wasn’t the NBA, it wasn’t college. It was being on Whitnall’s varsity team and from there I continued to get more motivation and more hungry for my ultimate dream of going to the NBA.”
From Whitnall there was a single year at Kentucky and then on to the Heat.
“It has happened fast, from one year at Kentucky, to a year after that I was playing in the Finals, to now we’re here,” the No. 13 pick in the 2019 NBA draft said. “Everything’s happened so fast. But I’ve got a great group around me with a great supporting system that keeps me in line.”
All-Star appearance
Although he has not made the event during his 20-season career, 42-year-old Heat captain Udonis Haslem said he will be in Utah for the Feb. 19 All-Star Game, where Heat icon and Utah Jazz part owner Dwyane Wade will be among the hosts.
Haslem said the selection of Heat center Bam Adebayo as a reserve from the Eastern Conference will make the trip all the more meaningful.
“I’m so happy that he made it,” Haslem said. “It’s going to make my trip out there worth it for my last year and I’ll enjoy it.”