Heat’s Avery Bradley and Andre Iguodala still out, Udonis Haslem enters protocols
The Miami Heat has ruled out veterans Avery Bradley, Udonis Haslem and Andre Iguodala for Friday night’s home game against the Indiana Pacers.
Bradley will miss his 21st game in a row because of a strained right calf and Iguodala will miss his second straight game because of left hip soreness.
Haslem, who first appeared on Friday’s 1:30 p.m. injury report, will not be available because of the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols. He did not test positive for the virus, but he is in protocols because of contact tracing.
Players who are determined to be close contacts to a positive COVID-19 case are expected to usually be sidelined for seven days.
Haslem, 40, is the only player on the Heat’s roster who has yet to play this season. The franchise’s all-time leading rebounder has played less of an on-court role and more of a leadership role in recent seasons, as he has logged just 191 minutes in 28 games since the start of the 2017-18 season.
But newly acquired forward Trevor Ariza is listed as available to make his Heat debut Friday after he was traded to Miami on Wednesday. Ariza has not played in an NBA game since March 10, 2020.
This story was originally published March 19, 2021 at 2:12 PM.
