The Miami Heat remain heavily impacted by the injury bug at the moment, and some updates to key players were offered prior to the team’s game against the San Antonio Spurs.
At the moment, it appears there is some good news and bad news for the Heat. Star big man Bam Adebayo looks to be back after missing the most recent game with a left ankle sprain. On the more negative side of things, point guard Kyle Lowry has been listed as out with soreness in his left knee, and Caleb Martin has been listed as doubtful with an ankle sprain of his own.
The Heat’s injury report heading into Saturday’s game against the Spurs made some news on Friday after every player on the team’s active roster was listed on the report.
Though there is no doubt that the Heat have dealt with their fair share of injuries so far this season, it appears as though the move was also done as a bit of a tongue-in-cheek protest.
On Friday, the franchise was fined for failing to correctly list players’ game availability statuses for its game on Wednesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Per NBA: “The Miami Heat has been fined $25,000 for violating league injury reporting rules. The Heat failed to disclose an accurate game availability status for several players prior to its game vs. Oklahoma City on Dec. 14 at Paycom Center.”
— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) December 16, 2022
Even if the injury report was packed partially for show, it does not change the fact that the Heat have dealt with major injury issues so far this season. Basically every key player on the roster has missed some time already in the campaign.
It’s a big reason why the Heat are just .500 on the season at 15-15.
The good news is that the Heat have won four of their last five games. They’ve got a great opportunity to pick up another win on Saturday over the 9-19 Spurs and get over .500 for the first time this season.
Though the Heat should already like their chances of getting a win on Saturday, the return of Adebayo to the lineup is fantastic news.
The big man is arguably playing the best basketball of his career right now, averaging 23.7 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game over his last 10 games. He’s scored 28 or more points in four different games during that stretch.
