A bit more clarity offered on Winslow situation and how he got re-injured
The decision to send Justise Winslow home with one game remaining on the Heat’s road trip was made by the team and not the player, the Heat said Sunday before Miami’s game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
A Heat spokesman said the team wanted to get him home sooner so he can see a specialist to get to the bottom of a bone bruise in his back, which had sidelined him for 15 games before he returned for one game last week.
That meeting with a specialist was expected to be conducted this weekend.
“We wanted to get him back and have him visit our medical staff and we’ll have more information when we get back to Miami,” Erik Spoelstra said.
Winslow played 14 minutes against Indiana but then complained of discomfort after the game.
During the game, “he made a movement that brought the pain back,” said teammate Derrick Jones Jr., one of Winslow’s closest friends on the team. “He’s going to shut it down a little bit, but he’s taking it well. He’s in the right state of mind.”
Jones said: “I don’t think he knew he was going home” until the team informed Winslow, but this was not disciplinary in any way. The Heat merely wanted to accelerate further diagnosis and treatment.
“He was good with it,” Jones said of Winslow leaving teammates with one game left on the road trip. “He’s going home to get better and healthy.”
Winslow has played only 11 games this season in the first year of a three-year, $39 million extension that includes a $13 million team option for 2021-22. If he’s out for another extended period, his trade value would be minimal.
One person close to the situation said pain threshold has been one factor in Winslow’s extended absence, though the Heat now wants to be cautious amid the latest setback.
THIS AND THAT
Spoelstra said the team had a “pretty gruesome” film session Saturday in the wake of Friday’s 117-113 loss in Brooklyn....
Spoelstra said he doesn’t like the coach’s challenge implemented this season. “Another thing that slows things down,” he said. “It slows the game down when we’re trying to speed it up. I just do what coach [Chris Quinn] tells me to do” regarding whether to challenge....
Spoelstra spoke to Knicks reporters of Bam Adebayo as a “leader and the heart and soul of our team.”
This story was originally published January 12, 2020 at 2:36 PM.
