MIAMI – After the Miami Heat lost a heartbreaker to the New York Knicks on Sunday night, there wasn’t a lot of time to recover for the second game of the back-to-back against the Washington Wizards. As there is a demand for the Heat to bounce back, it could be difficult with the immense amount of injuries the team is suffering from, garnering the attention of head coach Erik Spoelstra.
Including Nikola Jovic who is still recovering from a broken hand, Miami will be without Andrew Wiggins (ankle sprain), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (ankle sprain), Davion Mitchell (quad contusion) , and Kel’el Ware (knee sprain). With nine players available for the team against Washington and maybe for the next few games depending on the injuries, Spolestra sees it as a “fun” challenge for the players available to go through.
“Yeah, I mean, these games, you know, there’s ultimate clarity,” Spoelstra said before Monday night’s game. “You know, we bring up that word all the time, but there’s nine guys available, nine guys are going to play, I think, you know, short stints like this during the season, these can be games that the group really rallies around and can really have some fun.”
Erik Spoelstra on the injury woes impacting the team.
“These games there’s ultimate clarity, nine guys are available, nine guys are going to play…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/ZnbkQV9cCw
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 3, 2025
Heat will look to Kevin Love and Alec Burks to keep the ship afloat
People had been questioning the Heat’s head coach for sitting Ware for a majority of the second half, and while he mentioned the rookie was fine after the game, it seemed that a knee sprain arose soon after it looked to be rolled over. Piling on that with a bevy of other crucial players, veterans such as Kevin Love and Alec Burks are more than important.
Kel’el Ware is now OUT due to knee injury.
Here is Mitchell falling on his leg…
(via @Demar305) pic.twitter.com/3MdkMXSapM
— 𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙏 𝙉𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 (@HeatvsHaters) March 3, 2025
Burks started in the loss to New York on Monday in place of Andrew Wiggins and Jaime Jaquez Jr. as the latter was in the former’s place in terms of the lineup. He would have some huge buckets in the contest, finishing with 12 points on four of five shooting from the field, all from deep.
With Ware out, Love will no doubt see extra time as besides Bam Adebayo, he’s the only other true big on the team as a spot in the starting lineup alongside the captain may not be surprising. Spoelstra spoke before the game about how crucial it is to have players like Love and Burks when injuries pile up.
“He’s similar to AB [Alec Burks], we have two really solid vets, you know, they give you a great locker room presence,” Spoelstra said. “Not only for the young guys, that’s clear. They definitely help the young guys, but also the mid-vets that we have, and then to be able to be ready and produce. Those are hard guys to find, but Kevin’s kept himself ready and his skill set, you know, it’s always there, the rebounding, the passing out of those rebounds, skill level, offensively, I think we actually need that tonight.”
Erik Spoelstra on the importance of having vets like Kevin Love and Alec Burks ready to play when nights like this happen regarding the immense amount of injuries. #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/KfJnj1zdQD
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 3, 2025
At any rate, Miami is 28-31 which puts them seventh in the Eastern Conference before Monday’s outing.
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