Goran Dragic hates sitting out games and being a spectator — especially when he feels like he could play.
But the Heat’s All-Star point guard looks like he’s going to have to do exactly that when Miami (43-38) wraps up the regular season against the Toronto Raptors (59-22) on Wednesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Coach Erik Spoelstra has listed Dragic, 31, as doubtful for the game after he bumped knees in the second quarter Monday night with Oklahoma City center Steven Adams while fighting through a screen. Dragic, who has been battling pain in his right knee for the last month of the season, expects to be ready for the start of the playoffs this weekend.
“Everything is fine, but we’re going to be smart about this and give him another day’s rest,” Spoelstra said of Dragic, who sat out the Heat’s last win April 4 at Atlanta to rest the same knee and an ailing right ankle. “Everybody is ready to go [otherwise]. I’m planning on playing the full rotation, the normal rotation and plugging guys in for Goran.”
Dragic said the reason he played through the injury Monday was because he didn’t experience any soreness until after the game.
“When you’re hot it feels great,” he said. “Then when you cool off a little bit it becomes a little bit sore, it swells up. But I’ll be fine. It’s nothing serious. Spo just told me we need to be smart. So it’s precautionary. No big stories here.”
The discomfort in the knee, though, has affected his play. Since putting together back-to-back 30-point games last month at the Kings and Lakers, Dragic has averaged only 14.9 points while shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from three-point range over his last 10 games.
“I already had a bone bruise in that knee and I played through it,” Dragic said. “When you have a bone bruise, then it’s other muscles that kind of hurt and the knee was painful. Then, the other day I banged it again. I did have a brace on, padding. We’ll see, it’s day-to-day. I did treatments and everything. As long as we put the swelling down it will be OK.”
The Heat, seeded No. 7 in the Eastern Conference, can move up to sixth place in the East and a first-round date with red-hot Philadelphia (51-30) if it beats the top-seeded Raptors on Wednesday and the Sixers beat Milwaukee (44-37) to clinch the No. 3 seed.
With a loss to Toronto, though, Miami could slip to the No. 8 seed if Washington wins on the road at Orlando. That means the Heat would open with the Raptors in Round 1.
Toronto coach Dwane Casey said Wednesday morning everyone on his roster is available to play against the Heat. The Raptors, enjoying the winningest season in franchise history, are motivated to reach the 60-win mark.
“ It’s a significant number,” Casey said. “When we started out we won [23] games. Now we’re up to 60. It’s growth, it’s a boring word – process. It’s boring but it’s growth for our organization and what we are and what we’ve grown to. It doesn’t make or break your season but it’s a significant number.”
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