Dragic says knee OK, just an ‘off night’

The last time Goran Dragic attempted to push through an injury he wound up missing the following two games. This time the plan for the Miami Heat point guard is to keep pushing forward.

After missing consecutive games with a swollen right knee, Dragic returned to play a scoreless 21:17 in Saturday’s 116-110 loss to the Washington Wizards, missing all seven of his shots and closing with three assists and three turnovers.

He downplayed the knee as a factor in his or his team’s performance.

“It was nothing,” he said. “I just missed shots. It was just an off night. I mean, all of those shots I took were good shots. I watched on tape. A couple of them just rimmed out. The ball just didn’t want to go in.”

Dragic said the greater frustration was not being able to get the team on the same page.

“It’s not about an offensive night,” he said. “It’s all about defense. So you can have a bad game, shooting game, but we need to show up on defense.”

Dragic missed last Saturday’s road loss to the Atlanta Hawks, return to score 21 points in an overtime road victory over the Detroit Pistons, but then missed the two games prior to Saturday with the knee issue.

Coach Erik Spoelstra said Saturday’s limited minutes were more a factor of precaution.

“I didn’t even ask,” Spoelstra said of Dragic possibly playing longer. “I figure we had some minutes. I want to make sure we are progressing forward.”

Guard Wayne Ellington said the Heat should be beyond injuries as an excuse.

“I think we have enough guys to where we should be playing a little better,” he said. “But we can’t really do anything about it now. We just have to pull it together.”

Saturday’s loss dropped the Heat to 3-4 at home this season, including 1-2 on this homestand that concludes Monday against the Philadelphia 76ers.

“We know that we have to protect the home court,” Ellington said. “I am confident we will be better, especially here at home. I know this group and the character of this group. I know how we are built.

“We have been here before. We don’t have guys in this locker room that are going to give up in any way, shape or form. We are going to fight and put the work in until we figure it out and we get better.”

Following the upcoming trip to Brooklyn on Wednesday and Indiana on Friday, the Heat will hit another homestretch, with six of the following eight at AmericanAirlines Arena.

With the second of his three blocked shots Saturday against the Wizards, center Hassan Whiteside became the third Heat player with at least 700 blocked shots with the team, behind only Alonzo Mourning (1,625) and Dwyane Wade (778) . ... Even with Whiteside’s 14 rebounds, Saturday marked the first time this season the Wizards outrebounded their opponent (48-38) . ... Saturday marked the 11th consecutive game the Heat have converted double-digit 3-pointers, the second longest streak in the franchise’s 31 seasons. The record was set with 14 consecutive games of 10 or more at the start of last season. All 12 of Saturday’s 3-pointers were assisted, as have been all 26 over the past two games.