Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
No worry for Waiters
Guard insists his sprained ankle is not a long-term issue
MILWAUKEE — Dion Waiters wanted to make one thing clear as the Miami Heat prepared for Wednesday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks: The ankle sprain that again has him out of the lineup is nothing like the groin issue that had him sidelined for 20 games from late November until early January.
“I don’t plan on it being longer than what’s already going on,” he said, having rolled his left ankle during the third quarter of Monday’s victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. “I feel better already. I’m already walking better. I’m not limping.”
Waiters played to the finish of that game but then left Target Center in a walking boot. The boot is now gone, as treatment continues.
“Hopefully just continue to just keep treating it and who knows?” he said. “It’s not a long-time thing, though.”
Waiters scoffed when asked if he would be back before the Feb. 17-19 All-Star break, instead pointing to the final two games of this four-game trip, Friday against the Brooklyn Nets and Saturday against his hometown Philadelphia 76ers.
“I hadn’t had an ankle sprain in so long, I forgot what it almost felt like,” he said during Wednesday morning’s shootaround at BMO Harris Bradley Center. “Especially everything else that has been going on leading up to this, man, I feel bad, man, because we were moving in the right direction.
“It’s just tough. I’ve never been through
“I’ve never been through this many injuries in one season before.” Dion Waiters, Heat guard
this many injuries in one season before.”
Coach Erik Spoelstra said he was not surprised Waiters played through the sprain against the Timberwolves.
“Dion wants to be out there,” he said. “He doesn’t like that he’s missed that much time already this season. So that sometimes can happen depending on the player, if you sprain your ankle during the game, that you might be able to finish and then it’s really the next two or three days how your body responds after that.”
Now the Heat again have to respond to an injury, with plenty of preparation in that regard during a season that has featured lengthy absences by Waiters, Justise Winslow, Tyler Johnson, Josh Richardson, Wayne Ellington and Josh McRoberts.
“That’s the one thing,” Spoelstra said, “we’ve had so many moving parts that guys have played in a lot of different roles. We’ve had a lot of starting lineups. So it’s not as if another change is going to really set anybody sideways.
“Guys are pretty much used to it, the fluidity of the way the season has gone, and I think that’s developed some mental toughness for our group. We know what our game is now, regardless of what the lineups are.”
Johnson’s issue
James Johnson continues to wear a splint on his right wrist when away from the court.
The reserve forward said he cannot pinpoint an exact play that created the discomfort.
“All I know is it just started throbbing to the point where I couldn’t really flick my wrist, and then I iced it, got some treatment on it, then it started feeling better,” he said. “Now I’m just being cautious.”
Johnson said he has gone as far as to sleep in the splint.
“I don’t feel it during the game,” he said. “I don’t care about it when I’m playing.”
No Richardson
The Heat continue to remain without guard Josh Richardson, who is on the trip but Wednesday missed his 15th consecutive game with a sprained left foot.
“He’s continued to make progress,” Spoelstra said.