The Miami Heat released a loaded injury report ahead of their matchup against Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics on Friday. Josh Richardson (foot) and Haywood Highsmith (knee) have been ruled out for Miami, while Duncan Robinson (foot), Caleb Martin (knee) and rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. (groin) are all listed as probable.
Both the Heat and Celtics won their regular-season openers on Wednesday. The former beat the Detroit Pistons by a final score of 103-102, while the latter earned a road win against the New York Knicks.
The Heat inked Richardson to a team-friendly deal in the offseason after he spent the 2022-23 regular season playing for the San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Pelicans. The guard spent his first four seasons in the NBA with the Heat franchise and averaged a career-high 16.6 points per game with the team during the 2018-19 regular season.
Jaquez is another of Miami’s notable offseason acquisitions. The Heat selected the former University of California, Los Angeles standout with the No. 18 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
Martin is in his third season with the Heat and projects to once again serve as an important role player for the team. But he put together a forgettable performance in Miami’s win over the Pistons. The 6-foot-5 forward finished with two points in 20 minutes of playing time and converted just one of his seven shot attempts from the field, including zero of his three 3-point attempts.
Robinson, meanwhile, was much more productive against Detroit. He scored 15 points in 22 minutes and shot 60.0 percent from the field and from behind the 3-point arc. No player scored more points off the bench for the Heat on Wednesday.
Heat fans should be excited for Friday’s game against the Celtics. It projects to be an intense game between two teams with a history of facing off against one another in the playoffs.
The Heat eliminated the Celtics in seven games in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, but Boston came out on top against Miami in seven games in the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals.
