Reed day-to-day with right ankle bursitis

MIAMI — Willie Reed will not play tonight against the Mavericks, but a Sunday MRI revealed better news than expected when the Heat’s backup center was wheeled offff the court during Saturday’s win over the Pacers.

The diagnosis is right ankle bursitis. Reed is listed as dayto-day and he did not travel with the team to Dallas.

Reed exited Saturday ’s game in the fourth quarter after sustaining the injury. It was originally diagnosed as a right calf strain.

With Reed out maybe for the next few games, coach Erik Spoelstra could turn to the 6-foot-8 Udonis Haslem or the 6-9 James Johnson to fifill Reed’s role. Haslem hasn’t played since Miami’s win over Philadelphia on Feb. 4.

Aside from starter Hassan Whiteside, Reed is the only other true center on the roster. Reed is averaging 5.3 points and 4.8 rebounds in 14.7 minutes a game.

In order for the Heat to apply for an additional roster spot under the NBA’s hardship rule, Reed would have to miss three consecutive games and then an NBA doctor would have to determine he would miss an additional two weeks. With Chris Bosh, Josh McRoberts and Justise Winslow out, the Heat would qualify for the extra roster spot because the hardship rule is triggered when a team has four players out for the required amount of time.

Heat’s elite numbers: According to one of the most reliable team performance measures, the Heat have been the NBA’s third-best team since Jan.

Based on net rating, the Warriors and Wizards are the only teams that have played better since then. Miami’s net rating is 8.5 in that span; the Warriors’ is 14.4.

Net rating is the difffference between a team’s offffensive and defensive ratings. Offffensive rating is the number of points a team scores per 100 possessions, and defensive rating is the number of points a team allows per 100 possessions, which helps to eliminate the pace of play factor.