Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Jones’ knee acting up again, but he isn’t likely to be sitting down
Forward should play vs. Nets after he checks out OK
MIAMI — Having missed eight games with bone bruises on his left knee before returning to appear in four, Miami Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr. again is dealing with pain in that knee after aggravating it during Thursday night’s loss to the Houston Rockets.
The team, however, said the news was positive Friday, with Jones expected to be back in action in Saturday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets at AmericanAirlines Arena.
“It’s the same knee,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He banged knees, so I’m sure it’s pretty tender right now.”
The Heat initially expected Jones to be out twice as long after the initial injury was sustained in the Jan. 27 victory over the New York Knicks. He instead has returned to play a regular rotation role amid shoulder soreness that has sidelined James Johnson.
But in addition to Johnson being listed as questionable for Saturday, the Heat also have entered that designation on the NBA’s injury report for Goran Dragic (left calf strain) and Kelly Olynyk (sprained right ankle).
Another stride
Spoelstra viewed Thursday’s 21-point performance off the bench by Dragic as another step forward by the veteran point guard in his fourth game back since returning from December knee surgery.
“Sometimes it just comes down to having some guys that make some plays against good defenses, and that’s what Goran brings you,” Spoelstra said. “He brings you that out-of-thebox playmaking. You don’t need to necessarily design a specific play for him to shake free.”
Dragic has come off the bench in each game thus far. He logged 24 minutes, 54 seconds Thursday and posted a team-best plus-15 rating.
Chalmers signs
Former Heat point guard Mario Chalmers, who has been out of the NBA since playing last season with the Memphis Grizzlies, signed to play in Italy for Virtus Segafredo Bologna ahead of the Champions League playoffs, according to Sportando.
Chalmers, 32, whose career was derailed by a torn Achilles suffered while with the Grizzlies in March 2016, appeared in 66 games last season with Memphis after being out of the NBA in 2016-17.
An NBA champion in 2012 and ’13 with the Heat, the 2008 second-round pick out of Kansas attended Wednesday’s Heat-Warriors game at AmericanAirlines Arena and received a warm ovation.
On a roll
In the wake of James Harden‘s 58-point performance Thursday, the most ever scored by a Heat opponent, Rockets teammate Austin Rivers said the lack of awe is a factor of social media numbness.
“That’s just the nature of social media,” Rivers told the Houston Chronicle. “Everybody gets desensitized to great things. We take for granted what great players are doing.
“Nobody talks about the stuff LeBron does every night. Nobody talks about Russell Westbrook’s tripledoubles. Everything becomes accustomed to everybody because you see it over and over on social media. People say, ‘He does it all the time.’ ”
Jersey time
As planned, Dwyane Wade traded jerseys with Rockets point guard Chris Paul following Thursday’s game.
Wade then posted on Instagram, “Not only is @cp3 a legend he’s also my brother. Another great moment to add to this season for me. I’ve always loved competing against this dude because you’re gonna get his best every time. This is definitely on the top of my list of things I’ll miss when I retire.”
Milestone near
Wade enters Saturday with 1,050 career blocks when including the regular season and postseason, one from tying Michael Jordan (1,051) for the most ever by a guard. Wade has blocked 875 regular-season shots, 175 in the postseason. Jordan blocked 893 regularseason shots, 158 in the postseason.