Winslow to miss more time with back injury. And Silva discusses impending new deal.
Justise Winslow’s back injury continues to be a concern.
Winslow, who has missed 17 of the Heat’s past 18 games because of a lower back bone bruise, has been ruled out of Wednesday’s home matchup against San Antonio.
Coach Erik Spoelstra said following Tuesday’s practice about the forward’s injury: “I don’t have a new update for you. But I will ... soon. I just don’t have one right now.”
with one game remaining on the Heat’s recently completed trip, the Heat sent Winslow back to Miami on Saturday in order to see a back specialist.
Winslow returned from a 15-game absence to play 16 minutes in Wednesday’s road win over the Pacers, but he complained of discomfort in his back after the game and was held out of the Heat’s losses in Brooklyn and New York on Friday and Sunday.
Winslow, 23, has played in only 11 games this season. In addition to missing 17 of the past 18 games with the lower back bone bruise, he missed two games due to lower back stiffness and nine games due to a concussion.
Winslow has averaged 11.3 points while shooting 38.8% from the field and 22.2% on threes, 6.6 rebounds, and four assists this season. The Heat has outscored its opponents by 52 points in the 352 minutes that 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 38.7% shooting — 5.5 worse than their normal shooting percentage.
Over the past 18 games in which Winslow has missed all but one, the Heat has posted a 12-6 record but has taken a step back defensively. Miami has allowed 111.8 points per 100 possessions during this stretch, a defensive rating that ranks 23rd in the NBA over this 18-game window.
With Winslow on the court, the Heat has posted an elite defensive rating of 99.9 points per 100 possessions. For perspective, the Bucks entered Tuesday with the league’s top team defensive rating for the season at 101.6.
Among Heat players who have played in at least 10 games this season, Winslow owns the top individual defensive rating.
THE WAITING GAME
The Heat is planning to replace forward Chris Silva’s two-way contract with a standard three-year deal, according to a league source, with Tuesday marking the first day Miami had the flexibility to do that under the parameters of the league’s hard salary cap.
But as of Tuesday afternoon, Silva had yet to sign that contract. The expectation is Silva will sign his new standard deal on Wednesday, with the Heat also expected to sign a replacement two-way-contract player in advance of Wednesday’s league-wide deadline to sign such deals this season.
“I haven’t signed yet,” the 23-year-old Silva said following Tuesday’s practice. “I always like to take things day by day. So I mean if it’s coming, that means it’s meant to happen. I’m really excited. That means I get to work more and learn more and have more opportunities.”
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 3:06 PM.
