Another injury hits
Heat lose James Johnson for up to 10 days with right ankle bursitis
ATLANTA — This no longer is a season. It is a puzzle.
And the pieces keep changing for the Miami Heat and coach Erik Spoelstra.
Now it is the most versatile element who has been sidelined, with a Sunday MRI leaving forward James Johnson diagnosed with bursitis of his right ankle.
Johnson is projected to miss seven to 10 days, according to the Heat, a timetable that would have him out for four or five games.
Johnson left Saturday’s victory over the Los Angeles Clippers at AmericanAirlines Arena in the first quarter, hobbling as he left the building. The only game he has had missed to this point was a Nov. 1 victory over the visiting Chicago Bulls, with tendinitis in his right knee.
“We’ve got a lot of guys out,” rookie center Bam Adebayo understated of the Heat’s constantly evolving rotations.
The approach going forward will be next man up.
But that means the next man has to be ambulatory.
Instead, the Heat headed out for a two-game trip against the Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics without center Hassan Whiteside, who enters the third week of his absence with the bone bruise on his left knee.
Justise Winslow, arguably the closest thing to a James Johnson clone on the Heat roster, has missed the past two games with a strained left knee that seemingly will need additional time to heal, although Winslow will be part of the traveling party.
Among previous replacement options for Johnson had been Okaro White, only the second-year forward out of Florida State is still tooling around AmericanAirlines Arena with his left leg on a scooter, following November foot surgery.
As for Rodney McGruder? Last season’s starting small forward is still out indefinitely following his preseason leg surgery.
Already down on options, Spoelstra has increased the minutes of big men Adebayo and Kelly Olynyk and injected Jordan Mickey into the mix.
“That’s what kind of team we are. Every year there’s been a guy that steps up huge for us,” said forward Josh Richardson, who stepped up with a career-high 28 points Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers, to push the Heat above .500 for the third time this season.
“My first year it was me. Last year it was Rodney. This year, Jordan is stepping up, Bam is stepping up. There’s always had to be times where someone has to step up out of nowhere and be always ready.”
For now, figure on even more Mickey, who tied his career high of eight points in Friday’s victory over the Charlotte Hornets and eclipsed it with nine in Saturday’s victory.
To put into perspective the combined 42 minutes Mickey has played the past two games, consider that he had played 46 in the season’s first 27 games, held out of 20 of the 24 games prior to Friday in Charlotte.
“I’ve spent a lot of time with J.J. He’s talked to me a lot,” Mickey said. “He’s always said, ‘Eventually your number will get called.’ I’m not happy in this particular position [with Johnson out], but I’ll be ready, coach needs me and I’m already ready.”
Prior to Friday, Mickey had not played more than 15 minutes in a game this season.
“It wasn’t too bad,” he said of his wind. “Like I said, I’ve done a lot of conditioning on the side with our strength and conditioning coaches and they’ve done a great job of keeping me in shape and keeping me ready.”
At this rate, it is possible that Udonis Haslem becomes next man up, despite nothing but 10 minutes of mop-up duty this season. Haslem and two-way call-up guard Derrick Walton Jr. were the only available Heat players not to see action Saturday.
Adebayo said the approach without Johnson has to remain the same as it has been while compensating for the absences of McGruder, White, Whiteside and Winslow, the Heat arguably able to field a sidelined five as competitive as the lineups they have been offering, next looking to move two games above .500 for the first time this season, when they play Monday at Philips Arena against the Hawks.
“James went out and everybody was like we got to come together, we’ve got to keep competing,” Adebayo said of holding off the Clippers. “We took it to another level of Miami Heat basketball. Even though our captain is out, we’ve still got to look forward and keep playing our basketball.”
iwinderman@sunsentinel.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat or facebook.com/ira.winderman