Despite having appeared in seven consecutive games, Tyler Johnson is still not 100 percent.
Johnson was held out of the rotation for Saturday night’s loss to the Utah Jazz when he started experiencing pain once again in his left shoulder. The 23-year-old shooting guard has opted to hold off on surgery as the procedure would sideline him for two months.
He had previously missed three games in mid-December with the injury, returned for one contest, and then went on to miss the next five games.
Johnson stated that the injury was re-aggravated when he took a tumble in Wednesday night’s loss to the New York Knicks:
“I tried to play through it last game, which wasn’t smart. It’s not as bad as it was last time.”
The second-year guard also commented on his outlook regarding the injury, and how surgery is not definitively required:
“If we stay with the rehab process, it’s something that may not ever have to happen. I hope it’s not an ongoing thing.”
Johnson has been a key member of the rotation, especially since the Miami Heat traded Mario Chalmers to the Memphis Grizzlies in November. The Fresno State product has been the primary guard off of the bench in backing up both Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic.
It is unclear if the shoulder injury will affect his status for Monday night’s game at the Golden State.
Despite the bothersome shoulder injury, he is still averaging 8.6 points on 49.1 percent from the field in just 21.8 minutes per game. Johnson ranks second in scoring among Heat players coming off the bench, behind Gerald Green’s 11.5 points per contest.
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