Heat’s Andrew Wiggins set for return vs. Bulls. Also, a Nikola Jovic update and more
The Miami Heat enters an important game in Chicago with its leading trio will be available for the first time in nearly two weeks..
That’s because Heat forward Andrew Wiggins will make his return in Wednesday night’s matchup against the Chicago Bulls at United Center after missing the past six games because of right hamstring tendinopathy. Wiggins was listed as questionable on the injury report before being upgraded to available.
With Wiggins back on Wednesday, the Heat’s leading trio of Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Wiggins will all be available for the first time since the Heat’s March 27 home win against the Atlanta Hawks. Miami entered Wednesday with a 5-9 record this season when all three players have been available since Wiggins was acquired from the Golden State Warriors in the Feb. 6 Jimmy Butler trade.
Wiggins, 30, has already missed 14 games because of injury or illness since being traded to the Heat. Wiggins missed one game due to a stomach illness, five games due to a sprained right ankle, two games due to a left lower leg contusion and six straight games due to a recent hamstring issue.
But when Wiggins has been available since the February trade, he has been one of the Heat’s best players. He entered Wednesday averaging 19.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game in his first 15 appearances (all starts) with the Heat.
Adebayo will also return Wednesday after missing Monday’s victory against the Philadelphia 76ers with back spasms. It marked just the third game that Adebayo has missed this season and the first game he has sat out since Feb. 13.
“It felt like it was due,” Adebayo said of getting the night off Monday. “Me and Spo had a conversation and thought that was the best decision, so we got to sit out one and back to it.”
The only Heat players ruled out Wednesday are Nikola Jovic (broken right hand), Kevin Love (personal reasons) and Dru Smith (left Achilles surgery).
Jovic, who will miss his 25th straight game on Wednesday after breaking his right hand in late February, traveled with the Heat to Chicago for the team’s final trip of the regular season. But it’s still not clear whether Jovic will be able to return before the end of the season.
“I don’t know yet,” Spoelstra said when asked whether Jovic could return prior to the end of the regular season. “He’s basically doing everything. It’s just whether his hand can take contact.”
The Bulls ruled out Lonzo Ball (right wrist sprain), Ayo Dosunmu (left shoulder surgery) and Tre Jones (left midfoot sprain) for Wednesday’s game against the Heat.
The winner of Wednesday’s matchup between the Heat and Bulls will have the inside track at ninth place in the Eastern Conference and one home play-in tournament game, while also keeping its chances alive of climbing into eighth place in the East. The ninth-place team in each conference hosts the 10th-place team in the first play-in game before the winner of that contest goes on the road to take on the loser of the play-in game between the seventh-place team and eighth-place team for the right to the conference’s No. 8 playoff seed.
“It’s all about the competition,” Spoelstra said. “Anytime you have games that have meaning, you have to be really appreciative. And that’s how we’re viewing it. I’m sure Chicago is viewing it the same way. These last two games and leading into the play-in, I think it’s just good for basketball.”
The Heat can finish the regular season anywhere between eighth and 10th place in the East, as the NBA’s play-in tournament features the seventh-through-10th-place teams competing for the final two playoff seeds in each conference.
If the Heat finishes the regular season in ninth or 10th place, it would need to win two straight games in the play-in tournament just to qualify for the playoffs as the East’s No. 8 seed. Closing the regular season in eighth place means the Heat would get two chances to win one play-in game to make the playoffs as either the East’s No. 7 or No. 8 seed.
“We just want to be able to put ourselves in the best position possible for the play-in,” Herro said.
After Wednesday’s contest against the Bulls, the Heat has just two regular-season games left to play — Friday at New Orleans Pelicans and Sunday vs. Washington Wizards — before beginning the play-in tournament next week.
“We got to win,” Adebayo said of Wednesday’s important game in Chicago. “Like I said at the beginning of the year, when you get to the end and you look back at how many games you feel you’ve mishandled and let slip away, you start thinking about moments like this. So, obviously, there is more to this game.”
ANOTHER ONE
A few weeks after Spoelstra was left reacting to the dismissal of Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins, Spoelstra was asked to comment on the firing of the head coach he faced off against in the 2023 NBA Finals.
The Denver Nuggets fired head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth on Tuesday, just days before the end of the regular season.
“It’s tough. I have such deep respect for Mike,” Spoelstra said on Wednesday. “I feel for him and his family. He’s done so much for the organization, given his heart and soul to it and building a culture that’s respected. But also to the city of Denver. He and his family have been very active in the community. It’s just tough news. He’s a championship-level coach. Everybody in our organization understands how good he is.
“The tough part of this business is you have to come to the realization that there are a lot of things that can be true. That’s why I’m also so appreciative of our organization, not only the stability, the consistency over the years, but the support, especially through some tough waters.”
This story was originally published April 9, 2025 at 2:34 PM.
