Richardson day-to-day with sprained left foot

LOS ANGELES — Josh Richardson tried to play through the pain in his left foot, but it kept getting worse.

“I hurt it a few games ago, but I thought it would get better so I just kind of played on it and hoped for the best,” Richardson said before Sunday’s game against the Clippers. “But it kind of started getting worse, so I told them I wanted to get an X-ray and I got an MRI.”

The good news for the Heat is that the MRI and X-ray came back negative. Richardson has been diagnosed with a sprained left foot and did not play Sunday.

Richardson is listed as dayto-day as he recovers from the foot injury.

Counting Sunday’s game, Richardson has missed 11 games due to injuries this season. He missed training camp, the preseason and the first four games of the season as he recovered from a partially torn MCL in his right knee, he later missed six games in November and December with a sprained right ankle, and now he’s dealing with a sprained left foot.

“He’s pretty level-headed,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of Richardson. “Josh has a good understanding about the league and the things he can control and the things he can’t control. He’s done a great job preparing for this season and an unexpected injury in September. But, he really works at it behind the scenes and this is just the way it’s been. Thankfully, this isn’t a significant injury. Soft tissue. So, hopefully he’ll be able to come back sooner than later.”

Richardson said he suffered the injury when his “foot turned over” in the Heat’s loss to the Celtic s in Boston on Dec. 30. He played in four games after hurting his left foot, averaging 10 points on 34.8 percent shooting during that stretch, before deciding the pain was too much to play through.

“I don’t know,” Richardson said when asked how long he expects to be out with the injury. “They didn’t tell me exactly. I don’t know. Probably I guess whenever it starts feeling better.”

Depending on how long Richardson is out, the Heat could be eligible to apply for an additional roster spot under the NBA’s hardship rule. For Miami to add a 16th player, an NBA doctor would have to confirm that four players would miss an additional two weeks after sitting out at least three consecutive games.

Justise Winslow is expected to miss the rest of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery Thursday, Josh McRober t s i s out i ndef i - nitely with a stress fracture in hi s left foot and Chri s Bosh has been away from the team since failing his preseason physical. If Richardson misses three games with this latest injury and an NBA doctor determines that he will have to miss at least two additional weeks, the Heat could be granted the extra roster spot.

“It’s crazy,” Richardson said of all the injuries he’s dealt with this season. “I’ve never been hurt. I’ve never played an NBA schedule in its entiret y, so I guess it’s what comes with it.”