Injuries continue to mount for Heat as Robinson, Adebayo ruled out against Cavs
CLEVELAND
There’s a new name on the Miami Heat’s list of injury concerns.
A day after Heat sharpshooter Duncan Robinson returned to Miami on Tuesday to see a back specialist, Heat All-Star center Bam Adebayo was downgraded to questionable before eventually being ruled out for Wednesday night’s matchup against the Cavaliers in Cleveland because of a lingering lower back contusion.
Adebayo has been playing through the back contusion, but pain and swelling kept him out of the final game of the Heat’s trip. He was with the team at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Wednesday morning, but did not take part in the Heat’s shootaround.
“It’s something that he’s been dealing with,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Adebayo’s lower back contusion following the team’s morning shootaround in Cleveland. “And by the time we got to Cleveland, it definitely didn’t get better, it got a little bit worse. So we’ll treat him and he’ll be day-to-day.”
Spoelstra also labeled Robinson as day-to-day on Wednesday, but that’s pending Robinson’s visit to a back specialist. Robinson exited Monday’s road loss to the Philadelphia 76ers early with back discomfort before the decision was made for him to head back to Miami for further evaluation.
“He wasn’t going to be able to play today,” Spoelstra
said. “So we might as well just get him checked out there and start that process with [Heat senior director of rehabilitation] Jeff Ruiz and try to get him back as quick as we can.
“He’ll get a scan just to make sure we know what it is. He’ll work with Jeff, start that process right now and we’ll see where he is.”
Amid a season full of injury issues, Adebayo and Robinson have been two of the Heat’s most durable players.
Adebayo, 26, has played in 58 of the Heat’s first 68 games. He has averaged 19.9 points, 10.6 rebounds, four assists, 1.1 steals and one block per game this season.
Robinson, 29, has played in 63 of the Heat’s first 68 games. He has averaged 13.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and three assists per game while shooting 40.5 percent on 7.1 threepoint attempts per game.
With Adebayo out, that likely means more playing time for center Thomas Bryant. And with Robinson and some of the Heat’s other three-point shooters out, that could mean more playing time for three-point shooting two-way contract forward
Cole Swider.
Bryant has already been in the Heat’s rotation for the last two weeks with usual backup center Kevin Love out because of an injury, but Swider entered Wednesday with just 55 NBA minutes logged this season.
Most of Swider’s work this season has come in the G League with the Heat’s developmental affiliate. He has averaged 24.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game while shooting 45.8 percent on 10 three-point attempts per game in 19 appearances with the G League’s Sioux Falls Skyforce this season.
In Swider’s limited NBA opportunities with the Heat, Swider entered Wednesday shooting 5 of 19 (26.3 percent) from three-point range in 11 games this season.
“He is a great, great shooter. He really is,” Spoelstra said of Swider. “He’s elite with what he does, and I think his stints in Sioux Falls have really impacted winning. That matters. Then it’s just a matter of the fit, the timing and the opportunities with us.”
MORE INJURY NEWS
Jimmy Butler (right foot contusion) and Nikola Jovic (right hamstring strain) were cleared to make their returns on Wednesday against the Cavaliers after missing the last two games with their injuries.
“I’m feeling a lot better,” Jovic said after Wednesday’s morning shootaround. “I went through a little practice yesterday and now the shootaround, and it feels a lot better.”
But along with missing Adebayo and Robinson, the Heat ruled out Tyler Herro (right foot medial tendinitis), Love (right heel bruise) and Josh Richardson (season-ending right shoulder surgery) for Wednesday’s game.
The Cavaliers were also short-handed, ruling out out Ty Jerome (right ankle surgery), Donovan Mitchell (nasal fracture), Evan Mobley (left ankle sprain), Max Strus (right knee strain) and Dean Wade (right knee sprain). Also,
Oklahoma City Denver Minnesota Utah
Portland Pacific
L.A. Clippers Sacramento Phoenix
L.A. Lakers Golden State
47 48 47 29 19 W
20 21 22 39 49
L
x-clinched playoff spot
THURSDAY
New Orleans at Orlando, 7 Sacramento at Washington, 7 Chicago at Houston, 8
Brooklyn at Milwaukee, 8
Utah at Dallas, 8:30
New York at Denver, 9
Atlanta at Phoenix, 10:30
WEDNESDAY
Miami at Cleveland
Indiana at Detroit
Milwaukee at Boston Sacramento at Toronto
Utah at Oklahoma City Memphis at Golden State Philadelphia at Phoenix
L.A. Clippers at Portland
TUESDAY
Orlando 112, Charlotte 92 Houston 137, Washington 114 New Orleans 104, Brooklyn 91 Dallas 113, San Antonio 107 Denver 115, Minnesota 112
Cavaliers two-way contract players Isaiah Mobley and Pete Nance were unavailable because they are on G League assignments.
Anthony Chiang: 305-376-4991, @Anthony_Chiang
.701 .696 .681 .426 .279
Pct
— — 1 181⁄2 281⁄2 GB