Heat without Lowry and Dedmon vs. Hornets. And Spoelstra remains out because of protocols
As the NBA regular season winds down and the playoffs approach, the Miami Heat is taking a cautious approach with its roster.
The Heat will hold out starting point guard Kyle Lowry (rest) and back-up center Dewayne Dedmon (sprained right ankle) on Tuesday night against the Charlotte Hornets at FTX Arena. Following Tuesday’s contest, the Heat has just two games left on its regular-season schedule: Friday vs. Atlanta Hawks and Sunday at Orlando Magic.
The Heat will also be without head coach Erik Spoelstra for the second straight game because he remains in the NBA’s health and safety protocols. Assistant coach Chris Quinn will again handle head coaching duties on Tuesday for Spoelstra, who will miss his fifth game in his 14 seasons as the Heat’s head coach.
Spoelstra entered the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols on Sunday, the same day the Heat was subject to a round of COVID-19 testing upon entering Canada for its machup against the Toronto Raptors in order to return home because of U.S. restrictions. Spoelstra was able to get back home on Sunday night by driving to Buffalo, N.Y., and then taking a private flight back to Miami.
For those who test positive, the quarantine period is five days for asymptomatic and vaccinated NBA players and coaches to return if testing data shows they’re no longer at risk to be infectious.
Spoelstra’s five-day quarantine period runs through Friday, which means he won’t be able to return until Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Magic unless he produces consecutive negative PCR tests at least 24 hours apart before then.
With Lowry and Dedmon out, the Heat will have 15 available players for Tuesday’s game: Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Udonis Haslem, Tyler Herro, Haywood Highsmith, Caleb Martin, Markieff Morris, Mychal Mulder, Victor Oladipo, Duncan Robinson, Javonte Smart, Max Strus, P.J. Tucker, Gabe Vincent and Omer Yurtseven.
Quinn said Lowry “just needed the day” after playing in all three games of the Heat’s recently completed road trip.
Of Dedmon, Quinn said: “He’s a professional. He’s getting treatment daily. He tweaked his ankle the other night, so he’s just dealing with it day by day.”
The Hornets, which have already clinched a spot in the Eastern Conference’s play-in tournament but are still battling for seeding within that play-in tourney, will be without forward Gordon Hayward (left foot soreness).
The first-place Heat entered Tuesday two games ahead of the second-place Boston Celtics, and 2.5 games ahead of the third-place Milwaukee Bucks and fourth-place Philadelphia 76ers in the East standings.
A 2-1 finish to the regular season would guarantee the Heat the No. 1 playoff seed in the conference. A win over the Hornets paired with a loss by the Bucks or 76ers on Tuesday would guarantee the Heat a top-two seed.
This story was originally published April 5, 2022 at 5:55 PM.
