Heat again to play without three starters on Wednesday vs. Hornets. But Herro nearing return

The Miami Heat’s well-documented injury issues continue, but reinforcement could soon be on the way.

The Heat again ruled out three members of its preferred starting lineup — Bam Adebayo (left hip contusion), Tyler Herro (right ankle sprain) and Haywood Highsmith (lower back contusion) — for Wednesday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets at Kaseya Center (7:30 p.m.. Bally Sports Sun). It will mark the fourth straight game that the Heat plays without each of these three starters.

The Heat also will remain without Nikola Jovic (G League) and Dru Smith (season-ending knee surgery) on Wednesday.

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Adebayo will miss his fifth straight game with a hip contusion, Herro will miss his 16th straight game with a sprained ankle and Highsmith will miss his fourth straight game with a bruised lower back.

While the Heat has not offered a definitive timetable for any of their returns, there’s optimism that Herro will be able to make his return within the next week, according to a source familiar with the situation. Following Wednesday’s matchup against the Hornets, the Heat hosts the Chicago Bulls on Thursday and Saturday before closing the four-game homestand against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday.

Herro and Highsmith remained in Miami when the Heat traveled to Charlotte for Monday night’s 116-114 win over the Hornets at Spectrum Center, but Adebayo made the trip to his home state of North Carolina. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra cautioned against reading too much into that.

“He wanted to be around the guys,” Spoelstra said before Monday’s victory when asked whether the fact Adebayo traveled with the team to Charlotte means he’s close to a return. “He’s making progress. I don’t have a timetable for him. I wouldn’t read too much into it of him being on this trip. We knew he wanted to be here, and he can do his work. So, it’s good.”

Injuries have forced the Heat to use a league-leading 14 different starting lineups this season. In addition, Miami’s leading trio of Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and Herro have all been available for just six of the first 23 games.

But the Heat has managed to navigate those issues and a road-heavy start to the schedule to build a 13-10 record through 23 games. The Heat now returns to Miami to play six of its next seven games at home with the hope of soon getting healthier.

“It’s not about missed games,” Spoelstra said. “That’s been way less of a factor in our wins and losses than sustaining a high level of play. We’ve proven that even with moving parts, that we can get double-digit leads and can play extremely well on both ends of the court. It’s the consistency that we have to continue to build on.”

TO FOUL OR NOT TO FOUL

When ahead by three points in the final seconds, Spoelstra has typically decided against committing the intentional foul to prevent teams from getting up a potential game-tying three-pointer.

But late in Monday’s road win over the Hornets during a timeout, Butler talked Spoelstra into taking the intentional foul with the Heat ahead by three points and less than 10 seconds to play.

“Jimmy came into the huddle and he said he felt most comfortable doing that,” Spoelstra said following the two-point victory. “And he was the guy I definitely feel the most trust in that he can make that proper decision. As soon as he said it in the huddle, I was thinking probably what he was thinking was Jaylen Brown.”

That’s exactly what Butler was thinking, as his decision not to foul Brown in almost the exact same situation nearly cost the Heat that Dec. 2, 2022 game in Boston last season. Brown banked in a long three-pointer over Butler to force overtime before the Heat eventually escaped with the win.

“A lot, to tell you the truth,” Butler said when asked how past experiences influenced his decision to intentionally foul Hornets guard Terry Rozier on Monday, “Hell, I just remember Jaylen Brown hitting a crazy shot at Boston because I said I was going to foul and I said, ‘You know what, I’m not going to do it.’ And then he turns and banks a three in. I was like, ‘We’re not going to do that again.’ Plus, they’re out of timeouts and I think we had one left. So he was going to have to do something to get three points out of that play.”

After Butler’s intentional foul on Monday, Rozier made both free throws to cut the Heat’s lead to one point with 9.1 seconds to play.

The Hornets then took an intentional foul on Butler to preserve clock, and Butler made one of the two free throws to push the Heat’s lead to two with 4.3 seconds remaining.

With no timeouts remaining to advance the ball up the court and so little time left on the clock, all the Hornets could get up on their final possession was a 44-foot heave from Rozier that missed the rim as the final buzzer sounded. The Heat hung on for the victory.

“Fortunately, it turned out good for us,” Spoelstra said. “We played the analytics with that. But even that last one with Terry, that thing was right on line. It was long off the backboard, but that seemed like 10 seconds for him to get that thing off.”

JOVIC MINUTES

Heat second-year forward Nikola Jovic becan his second G League stint of the season with 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the field and 0-of-6 shooting on threes, 11 rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks in the Sioux Falls Skyforce’s 110-106 win over the Motor City Cruise on Tuesday in Detroit.

The plan is for Jovic to play one more game with the Skyforce on Friday against the Windy City Bulls in Illinois before re-joining the Heat in Miami this weekend. The hope is that Jovic, 20, will return to the Skyforce later this month for the G League Winter Showcase in Orlando.

“The idea is to get him game time,” Spoelstra said. “He’s had two really good weeks since he came back from Sioux Falls [after his first G League stint of the season], with his development. Obviously, it’s all behind the scenes, but we want to get him game minutes as much as possible.”