Herro, Nunn, Iguodala, Oladipo out vs. Bulls
The Miami Heat’s revolving door of injuries took a spin Monday with guard Kendrick Nunn, who initially was listed as questionable for Monday night’s game against the Chicago Bulls at American-Airlines Arena due to a sore right elbow but then was ruled out 90 minutes before tipoff due to a neck spasm.
“It just stiffened a lot in the last two days,” coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Nunn had started the previous nine games before being ruled out Monday. His only other injury absence this season was when he missed two games at the end of March with a sprained right ankle. He also missed two games in January in the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
Nunn’s absence further shortened the Heat’s backcourt rotation, with Tyler Herro, who had been listed as questionable, ruled out for the third time in five games with a sore right foot.
Those absences were in addition to Victor Oladipo missing his 10th consecutive game with a sore right knee.
While the Heat did get Goran Dragic back after he was held out of Saturday’s victory over the visiting Bulls due to knee and back pain, this time forward Andre Iguodala was held out due to a sore left hip.
The Heat have been alternating absences between Dragic and Iguodala as part of pacing their veterans through the pandemic-compacted season.
“We have to treat each game as its separate entity,” Spoelstra said. “And we’re not predetermining. But there’s just a lot more communication than there’s ever been. I think because it’s quite natural. The demands of the schedule are different than other seasons.
“It’s not an exact science, but we all feel on the same page and good about the plan.”