The Miami Heat reportedly had to wait through a plane issue in Miami for over six hours and thus will not have a shootaround on Tuesday ahead of their game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
With Heat forced to wait more than six hours due to a plane issue in Miami, they did not arrive in Milwaukee until well after Bucks had completed their Monday home victory to start back-to-back. So no shootatround for shorthanded Heat today and rest advantage essentially lost.
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) February 13, 2024
As team insider Ira Winderman indicated, the Heat are also dealing with a major case of the injury bug at the moment. Jimmy Butler (personal reasons), Josh Richardson (right shoulder dislocation) and Terry Rozier (right knee sprain) have all been ruled out for Miami against Milwaukee, while Duncan Robinson is questionable to play due to his left shoulder/elbow.
Richardson, Rozier and Robinson all seemingly suffered their injuries in the team’s home loss to the Boston Celtics on Feb. 11. Robinson may have gotten injured after getting tangled up with Jaylen Brown, and he went as far as to call the play from the Celtics forward “dirty.”
The Heat lost to the Celtics (without their top player in Butler) by just four points, which marked the team’s ninth loss over its past 13 games.
The Heat’s upcoming opponent in Milwaukee has won two games in a row and picked up its most impressive win of its short winning streak against the Denver Nuggets on Monday. Giannis Antetokounmpo dominated the Nuggets, considering he dropped 36 points, 18 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks on 14-of-19 shooting from the floor in 30 minutes of playing time.
Before defeating the Nuggets at home, the Bucks picked up an easy home victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Feb. 9. The Bucks won by 36 and held Charlotte to just 84 points as a team.
Considering the Heat won’t get to participate in shootaround on Tuesday and will be without some key players, the odds are seemingly stacked against the team to come up with a road win over the Bucks.
Following their daunting matchup against the Bucks, the Heat will play another Eastern Conference heavyweight in the Philadelphia 76ers on the road on Wednesday. Philadelphia has won its last two games and most recently defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers by two points on Monday.
