Miami Heat’s Derrick Jones Jr. taken off court on stretcher, diagnosed with neck strain
Miami Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr. left the court on a stretcher and in a neck brace following a hard collision late in the third quarter of Friday’s loss to the Indiana Pacers to close the regular season at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex.
But Jones and the team received relatively positive news after the game, with the Heat announcing that an MRI, CT scan and concussion test revealed a neck strain. Jones will be re-evaluated over the weekend, with Game 1 of the Heat-Pacers first-round playoff series set for Tuesday at 4 p.m.
The collision occurred when Jones attempted to run through a screen set by 6-11 and 250-pound Pacers center Goga Bitadze with 1:05 remaining in the third quarter. Jones’ left shoulder and neck absorbed the brunt of the contact.
“He got jarred in the shoulder-neck area. Obviously a little bit more than a stinger,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said following the game.
Jones immediately fell to the ground and grabbed his neck as he laid face-first on the court for more than five minutes, with Heat teammates and coaches standing and watching on with concern just a few feet away. Jones was rolled off the court on a stretcher, as he held a towel over his face.
Before exiting the game, Jones recorded three points, two rebounds and two assists in 16 minutes Friday.
“I mean it just takes the air out of the building,” Spoelstra said of watching Jones down on the court. “Even as competitors, you don’t want it on either side. You just want to be able to get through this game and be able to have everybody available for the playoffs.”
Spoelstra added that Jones “was already moving better” after the game.
Jones, 23, is on the verge of the first sizable contract of his NBA career that’s expected to include an annual salary that’s substantially more than the $1.6 million salary he’s on this season. He’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Jones, who won the Slam Dunk Contest during All-Star Weekend in February, averaged career highs in points (8.5), assists (1.1), steals (1) and minutes (23.3) in 59 games (16 starts) this season.
If Jones is available for the start of the playoffs, he’s expected to be part of Miami’s rotation as a bench option. He played in all eight seeding games at Disney, averaging 5.8 points and 2.5 rebounds in 15.8 minutes.
This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 6:25 PM.
