Goran Dragic again out for Tuesday’s game vs. Knicks, and the rest of Heat’s injury report
Miami Heat guard Goran Dragic is not ready to return to game action yet.
Dragic will miss Tuesday’s matchup against the New York Knicks at AmericanAirlines Arena (7:30 p.m., Fox Sports Sun) because of a sprained left ankle. It will mark the second straight game that Dragic has missed with the injury after also sitting out Sunday’s road win over the Knicks.
Dragic, 34, turned his ankle while trying to defend guard Russell Westbrook in the third quarter of Friday’s win over the Washington Wizards. Dragic left the game after the play and did not return, with X-rays returning negative.
The Heat also ruled out Avery Bradley (right calf strain), Moe Harkless (left thigh contusion), Meyers Leonard (left shoulder surgery) and Chris Silva (left hip flexor strain) for Tuesday’s contest against the Knicks. Bradley is expected to miss the next three to four weeks and Leonard is expected to miss the rest of the season.
Heat two-way contract guard Gabe Vincent (right knee soreness) is listed as probable.
“Nobody is going to feel sorry for us, and we don’t want any pity,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Sunday when asked about Dragic’s injury. “If any organization or any locker room or any team can handle all of this, it’s us. We have a very tough-minded group and we’ve come to expect the unexpected.
“We’re making progress. The discipline right now is to not let the previous games affect what’s happening in the present moment. We just have to commit to getting on the same page, doing it better and doing it more consistently. We have that opportunity. Even with Goran out right now, we have the majority of our core together and that’s what’s most important.”
Dragic has averaged 14.4 points while shooting 45.6 percent from the field and 35.9 percent on threes, 3.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 17 games this season. In addition to the ankle injury Dragic is now dealing with, he also missed two games because of health and safety protocols and three games because of a strained left groin earlier this season.
Dragic replaced guard Tyler Herro in the Heat’s starting lineup in Friday’s win over the Wizards. But with Dragic spraining his ankle in that game, guard Kendrick Nunn started in place of Dragic on Sunday.
Nunn again was efficient, continuing his best string of games in a year with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 4-of-7 shooting on threes, four rebounds and three assists in his third start of the season on Sunday. Nunn started in each of his 67 regular-season appearances with the Heat last season as a rookie.
Nunn has averaged 18.3 points while shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 36.7 percent on threes in his past nine games. The expectation is that Nunn will again start in Dragic’s spot on Tuesday.
“It’s familiar having Kendrick basically, K-Nunn in that [starting] lineup,” Spoelstra said. “We did that for large parts of the season last year. And as much as we can keep the continuity together, we will. But as this season has shown, we’re not always able to do that.”
Herro played as a reserve for the second straight game on Sunday, finishing with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting, six rebounds and four assists in 32 minutes.
The next question regarding Dragic and the Heat’s other injured players: Will any be able to travel with the team later this week for the start of its seven-game trip? After Tuesday’s home game against the Knicks, the Heat begins its long trip Thursday against the Houston Rockets.
▪ Knicks center Nerlens Noel is listed as questionable for Tuesday’s game in Miami because of a sore left knee.
This story was originally published February 8, 2021 at 5:35 PM.
