Justise Winslow’s return will have to wait. And Jimmy Butler also out vs. Trail Blazers
The Heat has grown accustomed to playing without Justise Winslow. But Miami is now facing a new injury.
Star wing Jimmy Butler (back) missed Sunday’s game, with Derrick Jones Jr. starting in his place. Coach Erik Spoelstra said during his pregame session with the media that Butler’s back “kind of locked up on him.”
It marks the fifth game Butler has missed this season. Butler is leading the Heat in scoring (20.4), assists (6.6) and steals (2.0)
In addition, Winslow’s back injury forced him to miss his 15th consecutive game Sunday despite being upgraded to questionable for the contest. Winslow’s injury began as a lower back strain and was reclassified as a lower back bone bruise on Dec. 26 after an MRI.
For Winslow, it has been an injury-riddled start to the season. He has played in just 10 games this season.
Before Winslow’s current back injury, he missed two games due to lower back stiffness and nine games due to a concussion.
In the 10 games Winslow has been available for this season, the 23-year-old has averaged 12.4 points while shooting 39.4 percent from the field and 23.1 percent on threes, 7.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 33.7 minutes. The Heat has outscored its opponent by 53 points in the 337 minutes Winslow has played.
The Heat especially misses Winslow’s defense. Considered to be one of the team’s top defenders, he has limited those he has guarded this season to 38.6 percent shooting — 5.6 worse than their normal shooting percentage.
Along with Winslow, rookie forward KZ Okpala and two-way contract guard Daryl Macon were also ruled out for Sunday’s game because both are currently playing with the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
With Butler and Winslow unavailable Sunday, Spoelstra said every available player on the Heat’s roster will be “on the table” to play Sunday. That includes guard Dion Waiters, who has yet to play this season, and forward James Johnson, who has not played in 18 consecutive games.
This story was originally published January 5, 2020 at 4:42 PM.
