Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Spoelstra on injury: ‘It’s hard for it not to be on your mind’
MIAMI — When the Miami Heat play in Brooklyn on Wednesday night, the Nets will be without fastrising swingman Caris LeVert.
LeVert twisted his foot/ ankle on a play against the Timberwolves on Monday night when he attempted to block a shot and landed awkwardly, stopping play at Minnesota’s Target Center for several minutes as he left on a stretcher. Heat players on Tuesday wished the best for the athletic, third-year player out of Michigan.
“I didn’t see it, and it’s horrific and you feel horrible when it happens to players,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We all live in this really competitive arena, and we all root for every single person and player — and staff, coaching staff — that they at least have their health. You just don’t want to see anybody get injured like that in such a fashion.
“It’s hard for it not to be on your mind, so you’re just hoping and praying for a quick recovery. As you’ve seen from other players, with even the most gruesome of injuries, guys can come back.”
Heat guard/forward Josh Richardson felt for LeVert because his career was on such an upward swing. The 20th pick in the 2016 NBA draft was averaging 18.4 points per game, up from 12.1 in his sophomore campaign.
“It sucks. You hate that for anybody in this league or anybody that plays sports, and he was playing at a very, very high level,” Richardson said. “I think he was definitely on pace to be in the conversation for Most Improved [Player Award]. He’s done a lot of work in his time in the league, and I pray for a speedy recovery for him.”
The injury turned out to be less severe than expected. The Nets announced Tuesday LeVert was diagnosed with a subtalar dislocation in his right foot and surgery will not be required. There were no fractures and only moderate ligament damage, according to a statement released by team orthopedist Dr. Martin O’Malley.
“My prayers go out to him and his family, the Brooklyn team,” Derrick Jones Jr. said. “I don’t wish that on no one. We’re all competing against each other, but at the same time, we all want each other to stay safe and go out there and have a great game.”
As a high-flying player himself, Jones said players can’t let thoughts of a potential injury on an athletic play creep into their heads.
“When you think about things that’s bad, normally the bad things happen to you,” he said. “I’m going to go up and play my game the best that I could. I’m not going to think about hurting
myself.”
Richardson to be more
aggressive: After taking a season-low eight field goal attempts on Monday night, Richardson, the Heat’s leading scorer on the season, knows he needs to factor into the offense more.
“I got to be more aggressive in the future,” he said following the 124-114 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Richardson, despite playing the entire fourth quarter, did not attempt a single shot in the final period. He finished with the same shooting line he had after three: 4 of 8 from the field (4 of 5 on threes) and 5 for 5 on free throws.
All in all, it was an efficient production of 17 points, but the Heat need more from him in crunch time.
“I want him to be more aggressive,” sharp-shooting guard Wayne Ellington said. “We were talking about he didn’t take as many shots as he should have [Monday night]. He’s going to continue to grow. He’s going to find his spots. He’s capable.”
Philadelphia’s defense keyed in on Richardson late, something he’ll have to get used to as a higher priority on opponents’ scouting reports.
“We need Josh to be assertive. Our basketball team needs it,” Spoelstra said. “Certainly not having any field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter is not good for our team. Some of that has to do with Philly, and that’ll be part of the next evolution – being on everybody’s scouting report in a different way than he’s been in years past. Teams will treat him with the proper respect to try to take him out of games, and we’ll have to continue to find ways to be aggressive and make plays for our team.”
Richardson leads the Heat with 20.5 points on 16.6 field goal attempts per game and is shooting 42.6 percent.