The Miami Heat have dealt with a lot of bad injury news so far in the 2022-23 NBA season and been without key players for significant periods of time. On Wednesday, however, the team got some good injury news, as it looks like star guard Kyle Lowry will be good to return for today’s matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans.
He’s listed as available for the game on the team’s injury report.
Lowry has been dealing with a knee injury lately and missed the team’s last four games as a result.
The good news for the Heat is that they were able to go 3-1 in those four games. They even managed to pick up two wins against the Milwaukee Bucks, winning the first game by six points and the second by a more convincing 16 points.
Though it’s really good to see that the Heat can maintain a winning level of basketball with Lowry off the floor, it is probably better to have the six-time All-Star on the court.
In 36 games this season, Lowry has put up numbers that are fairly consistent with his career marks. He’s averaging 13.1 points, 5.6 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game this season.
With that in mind, he could certainly afford to be a bit more efficient when shooting the ball. At the moment, he’s shooting just 39.8 percent from the field and 33.6 percent from three. Both are lower than his career numbers.
One interesting wrinkle to Lowry’s return is that it could help the Heat accomplish a recently reported goal. That goal is shedding Lowry’s rather rich contract.
Lowry is making $28.3 million this season and set to make about $29.7 million next season. That’s a pretty hefty price to pay for a 36-year-old guard who’s had issues staying healthy in recent seasons.
If Lowry can return to the court tonight and stay healthy for the rest of the month of January, then the Heat might have an easier time finding a trade partner prior to the Feb. 9 trade deadline.
What matters most, however, is that the Heat continue to play winning basketball as the All-Star break approaches. They are currently 24-21 on the season and sitting at the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference.