Winslow, Jones among as many as 5 players out against Pistons
The Heat will once again be without two of its main rotation players — and could have as many as five players out overall — when they host the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday.
Justise Winslow (concussion) and Derrick Jones Jr. (hip) have both been ruled out for the 7:30 p.m. game at AmericanAirlines Arena. Tyler Herro (left ankle sprain) and Kelly Olynyk (right knee soreness) are questionable. Rookie KZ Okpala
(Achilles) also remains out.
Add Dion Waiters’ suspension, and the Heat could have as few as nine active players against Detroit.
This will be the third consecutive game — fifth overall — Winslow has missed. He was placed in concussion protocol on Thursday.
Winslow is averaging 13.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game in the five contests in which he was active.
Coach Erik Spoelstra
said after practice Monday that Winslow’s health is improving, but he is not yet ready to return to the court.
“He’s feeling better, no question,” Spoelstra said. “He’s starting to feel more normal. He looked more normal today.”
Jones is missing his sixth game and has averaged less than 15 minutes per game off the bench.
Herro and Olynyk have not missed a game yet this season and both have been valued contributors on the Heat’s second unit.
Herro, the Heat’s firstround pick in June, is averaging 13.1 points on 41.8 percent shooting with 4.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. The 19-year-old has scored at least 14 points in five games — including 29 in the Heat’s 112-97 win over Atlanta on Oct. 29 — and has logged more than 23 minutes in all but one game.
Olynyk is averaging seven points and 5.1 rebounds through the first nine games.
EASIER ROAD AHEAD
The Heat opened the season with a nine-game gauntlet that included six road games and five contests against teams in the top five of their respective conferences. They left that stretch with a 6-3 record, including road wins against the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns along with a home win against the Houston Rockets.
“That gives us confidence,” guard Goran Dragic said, “especially since most of our games have been on the road against good teams. We know that we can play against them, that we can hang with them and we can beat them on the road, too. As long as we take care of business at home and win maybe 50 percent of games away, I think we’ll be in good shape.”
The next few weeks should have some easier days.
The Heat’s next five games — Tuesday against Detroit (4-6), Thursday at Cleveland (4-5), Saturday against New Orleans (2-7), Nov. 20 at home against Cleveland and Nov. 22 at Chicago (3-7) — all come against teams with sub-.500 records entering Monday. All five are against teams that rank in the bottom half of the NBA in defensive rating.
“I’ve seen a lot of great potential,” Dragic said. “I feel like we’ve been playing well, but still we’re not satisfied with that. … Defensively, we’re out there but offensively I feel like we can do a lot more damage.”