The Heat aren’t complaining about their injury situation as they prepare to host Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Jimmy Butler became the latest addition to the injured list, twisting an ankle in the latter stages of his magnificent performance Friday night in Boston. Butler, who is expected to play Sunday, is also dealing with inflammation in his right knee that forced him to miss the second half of Game 3. Kyle Lowry, Gabe Vincent and Max Strus all have hamstring issues, and Tyler Herro has missed the last three games due to a strained groin.
“This time of year, there’s nobody 100% healthy, both sides,” P.J. Tucker said. “I’m sure they got a bunch of guys, too, just trying to figure it out and give what they can. Try to win. That’s it. You can’t get these days back. It’s living in the moment, trying to just do what you can.”
There’s more from Miami:
- The Heat are adopting a “wait and see” approach regarding Herro’s status for Game 7, tweets Nick Friedell of ESPN. Coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters that Herro will have a daytime workout on Sunday, and the medical staff will determine whether he’s able to play. Spoelstra said before Friday’s game that Herro has “made progress” with the injury, but added that sitting him out was “the most responsible decision for us,” Friedell states in a full story.
- In an interview with Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel, ESPN’s Bobby Marks projects the value of 12 Miami players for next season if they were all free agents. Among the most interesting is Victor Oladipo, who Marks believes will be worth the $10.3MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception after playing on a veteran’s minimum deal this season. The Heat have Bird rights on Oladipo, so they wouldn’t need to use their MLE to re-sign him at that number, but Winderman isn’t sure that the organization is willing to offer that much.
- The Heat were fined $25K for “violating league rules regarding team bench decorum,” the NBA announced on Twitter. The league said players stood for an extended time in the bench area, stood away from the bench and were encroaching on the court during Friday’s game.