Heat gets crucial injury updates before season finale vs. Raptors

A timeline of Rozier’s neck injury

For Rozier, this will be his fourth straight missed game as he is suffering from neck spasms where his last game played was on April 7 against the Indian Pacers. It was an uncharacteristic performance for the 30-year old as he only scored four points on two for seven shooting from the field where he even revealed after that he “shouldn’t have played” according to Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel.

“I mean, I never like to make excuses, but I shouldn’t have went, I shouldn’t have played,” Rozier said. “I felt like I hurt the team by trying to be a warrior and get out there, and I feel like I hurt myself, but we move on, can’t do nothing about it, I know it’s going to get better.”

“It might be the travel and sleep,” Rozier continued. “I don’t know. But I never felt nothing like this. I know the guys are going to get me right.”

It has been a change of pace for Rozier who has usually been one of the main, featured players on the Hornets, but as soon as he was traded before this season’s trade deadline to Miami, it was always going to be different. Averaging over 20 points per game with the Hornets, joining the Heat would mean playing with Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, and Bam Adebayo who all score more or around that number.

Spoelstra talks about Rozier powering through injury initially 

However, he has adapted well since the trade where he is still explosive and aggressive, but has no problem facilitating the ball when needed as he has advocated that he wants to be a part of a winning team. After that Pacers loss, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra admired and “appreciate him giving whatever it is” out on the floor that day.

“We just appreciate him giving whatever it is, whatever percentage,” Spoelstra said. “He’s not going to make an excuse for it, so I won’t for him, either. I just appreciate him being out there. And then in the second half, we were just trying to find any combination that could get us back into it.”

When will Rozier come back for Heat?

Before the Heat loss to the Dallas Mavericks last Wednesday, Spoelstra gave an update on the status of Rozier and what his recovery will look like for a possible imminent return. He would say to the media during his press availability that once he gets “relief,” he will be out there though he also described his neck as “really jacked up.”

“As soon as he gets relief, it’s as simple as that,” Spoelstra said when Rozier will come back to the lineup. “You know, his neck is just really jacked up, you know, right now and he needs to calm that down. For anybody that has had neck or back pain, it just takes time. He’s doing everything he needs to do.”

With the Heat, Rozier has averaged 16.4 points, 4.6 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game while shooting 42.3 percent from the field in 31 outings. When asked to give a little more insight into his status, Spoelstra would say to ClutchPoints that he is “day to day” and that his type of injury is sporadic and could be gone quickly.

“He’s day to day, it is also one of those things that one day you wake up and it’s gone,” Spoelstra said.

Key players needed for most integral part of the season

Going back to Duncan Robinson, his injury is the same as the one that kept him out for a handful of games last month as it’s a back injury specifically labeled as “left facet syndrome.” In the present time, he has missed the last three games as like Rozier, his last contest was against the Pacers.

Known as a dynamic three-point shooter, he became the fastest player to make 1000 deep shots on March 17 against the Detroit Pistons. He did the feat in 343 games, passing Buddy Hield who did it in 350 where also in that game, Robinson scored 30.

Robinson provides Miami with the spacing needed to play to their strengths, but he also improved in every aspect in his game whether it be driving to the basket, passing the ball, and other areas. Him being “questionable” is for sure an upgrade that fans want to see.

Heading in to the final game of the season for Miami, they can be anywhere from the fifth to eighth seed after Sunday which shows how much every game has mattered this season. While the goal is to avoid the play-in tourney, the first step is beating the Raptors Sunday afternoon and worry about the rest later.