Ankle sidelines backup center Willie Reed
A Sunday MRI offered a significant level of relief for the Miami Heat regarding the injury that had backup center Willie Reed wheeled off the court during the fourth quarter of Saturday’s victory over the Indiana Pacers at American Airlines Arena.
What initially was listed as a strained right calf turned out to be right-ankle bursitis, with Reed listed as day-to-day going forward, but not traveling with the team for Sunday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center.
Reed left the arena on crutches Saturday, without comment.
“I felt bad for him,” center Hassan Whiteside said. “You never want to see any basketball player injured, especially a teammate. I’m glad it’s not too serious.”
Although the Mavericks have generally been playing smaller lineups recently, with power forward Dirk Nowitzki shifted to center, Dallas acquired Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel at last week’s NBA trading deadline.
With Reed out, seldomused Udonis Haslem stands as the Heat’s only available backup center, although coach Erik Spoelstra frequently has gone to smaller lineups featuring forward James Johnson as a ballhandling center.
There had been greater concern with the initial diagnosis of a calf injury.
“Obviously, you just don’t want to think the worst,” Spoelstra said after Saturday’s game, with the Heat given Sunday off. “You don’t know when it’s a calf injury and he’s not able to get up. Part of that was we were telling him to stay down until we can figure out what itwas or what it is.”
Richardson stride
In his first home game since Jan. 1, guard Josh Richardson thought he took a step forward in his 14 minutes Saturday.
After shooting 0 for 5 in 13 minutes in Friday’s road victory over the Atlanta Hawks, in his first game back after missing19 with a sprained left foot, Richardson shot 1 for 3with four rebounds against the Pacers.
“I don’t think it was bad for me,” said Richardson, who thought his most significant strides came on the defensive end. “I think it was good to be aggressive again. I mean, it kind of got me back into what I like to do on defense and on the court.”
Richardson found that aggression somewhat limited Saturday by his four fouls. “I figure eventually I’ll get back into a groove again,” he said.
Moving on
Briante Weber’s tour of the NBA has the former Heat guard moving on from the Golden State Warriors to the Charlotte Hornets, after his second 10-day contract with the Warriors expired Saturday.
The Hornets and Heat had made offers to Weber before he signed his two 10-day deals with the Warriors, who now are moving on to waived Los Angeles Lakers veteran point guard Jose Calderon.
“I’m hopeful he can go somewhere where he can get more playing time than here,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
Winning ways
According to Elias Sports Bureau, the 16 victories in the past 18 games represent the Heat’s highest win total over any 18-game span in the franchise’s 29 seasons outside of the four seasons when the team featured the Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.