Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Inside Josh Richardson is questionable with bad shoulder.
Richardson unsure if shoulder sprain will keep him out for Game 5
As if the Miami Heat didn’t have enough to worry about, they may be without one of their key starters Tuesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 5.
Guard Josh Richardson is listed as questionable after sustaining a sprain to his non-shooting left shoulder in Saturday’s loss in Game 4. He did not practice Monday.
“It feels good right now,” Richardson said. “I’ve been getting a lot of treatment. We’ll see what happens. It was a little sore, but nothing too heavy.”
Richardson was injured in the first half after colliding with Sixers center Joel Embiid while chasing a loose ball. He was taken into the locker room for treatment, but returned in the second half.
He is averaging 10.5 points, 3.5 assists and 3.8 rebounds during the series. He had a Heat playoff-record seven steals in Game 4.
“I just know that it didn’t feel great after the loose ball happened,” Richardson said. “I went to the back and got it checked out.”
The Heat will evaluate Richardson after Tuesday’s morning shootaround.
“It’s a sprain,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Obviously the adrenaline was pumping. He made some big plays after that. You tend to feel that the next day and the day after. It’s too early to tell. We’ll know more in the next 24 hours.”
Spoelstra said he is unsure who will replace Richardson if he is unable to play. The options include Justise Winslow, Wayne Ellington and Dwyane Wade.
“Everything in me wants to play [Tuesday],” Richardson said. “I’m definitely going to give it my best shot.”
Playing without Richardson would be a huge blow for the Heat. He is arguably the team’s best on-ball defender and they’d lose another player who could match against Sixers star guard Ben Simmons. In Game 4, Simmons became the first rookie since Magic Johnson to record a tripledouble. He finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in the Sixers’ 106-102 victory.
“It’s a big loss,” Wade said. “At this point of the season, if you lose anybody that’s supporting your team and that’s in the rotation, it’s a big loss for anyone. But we move on to the next guy and the next guy steps and does his job.”
The 76ers, who lead the series 3-1 and are 19-1 in their last 20 games overall, will try to close out the Heat and clinch the opening-round series on Tuesday night as the series returns to Philadelphia.
Long rebounds a concern
Much of Monday’s film session was devoted to how the Heat can improve their rebounding. They were out-rebounded 57-43 in Game 4, including allowing 17 offensive boards to the 76ers, with many of them coming on long rebounds off 3-point misses.
“You have to persevere,” Spoelstra said. “There’s a lot of things that are challenging. That’s the opponent that we have. It’s not supposed to be easy. We’re making a lot of great efforts. We have to find a way to put bodies on them and finish. We have to find a way to handle the long [rebounds] and anticipate them and see if we can dig out a handful more of those from long three-point misses.”
Balancing the pace
After attempting to slow the pace in Game 4, Spoelstra said it’s more about balancing. He said the Heat have no problem running with the Sixers, but want more halfcourt play.
“Probably Game 4 was the best we’ve balanced it all series,” Spoelstra said. “Because we don’t want to play a slow-down game, but we have to be mindful of how ignitable they are particularly in their building. I like a lot of things that we did offensively in Game 4. We have to finish it off with the requisite fourth-quarter details, halfcourt execution. That’s what was really needed and we’re capable of it.”