Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Dragic active vs. Raptors, Herro out again
The Miami Heat had guard Goran Dragic back on the active roster for Wednesday night’s game against the Toronto Raptors at AmericanAirlines Arena, with teammate Tyler Herro still sidelined.
Dragic, out since Feb. 8 with a sprained left ankle, said he still is working his way back.
“I’m feeling OK,” he said. “I still need to do a lot of work. The ankle it’s getting better, so I’m on the right track.”
He said he plans to chart a prudent path, with more than half the season remaining.
“Yeah, I need to be smart with this,” he said. “This injury was pretty bad. And I was out for two weeks. We’ll see how the ankle’s going to react.
“I went through some hard practices. And we’ll see. Definitely, I want to be 100 percent when I get back and help my team.”
Coach Erik Spoelstra said it was significant to get Dragic back into
the mix.
“It was really cool to see him [Tuesday],” Spoelstra said of the
Heat’s return from their sevengame western swing. “We’ve been in touch. But it was great seeing him in the gym, smiling [Tuesday] and then going through the shootaround. I know how badly he wanted to be on the trip.”
Herro missed his second consecutive game due to the hip contusion sustained during the first half of Saturday’s victory over the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center, then sitting out Monday night’s road victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Forward Chris Silva also was again available, having been sidelined with a hip flexor strain since Jan. 22.
“I would have used him somewhere on the trip,” Spoelstra said. “I’m not talking big minutes. In the minutes he’s played this year, he’s produced. It was just really unfortunate the timing of his injury, but he feels great and he’s had a really good couple of weeks of work.”
The Heat remain without Avery Bradley (calf ) and center Meyers Leonard (shoulder).
“It feels like we’re getting there,” Spoelstra said of his team’s injury situation. “We’re getting closer.”