Heat starter Gabe Vincent ruled out for Game 5 vs. Celtics with ankle injury

Miami Heat starting guard Gabe Vincent tested his injured ankle in a workout Thursday morning, but ultimately did not feel healthy enough to play in an Eastern Conference finals game.

After initially being listed as questionable with a sprained left ankle he sustained in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s Game 4 loss in Miami, Vincent was ruled out for Game 5 of the East finals against the Boston Celtics on Thursday night.

The Heat entered Game 5 in Boston with a 3-1 series lead over the Celtics and just one win away from punching its ticket to the NBA Finals.

“He went through his routine and workout this morning, just wanted to get ahead of it,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra of Vincent following the team’s Thursday morning shootaround session at TD Garden. “He is feeling better, just not quite good enough to play an Eastern Conference finals game. But that’s why the guys respect him so much. He was doing everything he possibly could to try to get out there.”

After turning his left ankle with eight minutes to play in Game 4, Vincent hobbled back to the locker room during the next timeout. Vincent had his ankle re-taped and was able to re-enter the game with 4:55 to play before he was eventually subbed out of the Heat’s lopsided loss with 3:40 remaining.

When asked about the injury following Tuesday’s defeat, Vincent said he did not feel much discomfort in his injured ankle. So what changed since then?

“My body did its own thing,” Vincent said Thursday morning. “It has a mind of its own. It will heal when it heals and take it day by day.”

Vincent, 26, has been an important part of the Heat’s playoff run as the starting point guard, averaging 13.1 points and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 41.7 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from three-point range in 15 games. He’s averaging the third-most points on the team during this year’s playoffs behind only Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler.

Vincent has been especially effective in the East finals, averaging 17.5 points per game on an ultra-efficient 57.9 percent shooting from the field and 50 percent shooting from three-point range. He set a new NBA career-high for any game with 29 points in the Heat’s Game 3 win over the Celtics on Sunday.

The player Vincent has defended most in the East finals is Celtics All-Star wing Jaylen Brown, according to NBA tracking data.

“It’s just not right,” Vincent said of his ankle.

With Vincent out, Heat veteran guard Kyle Lowry appears to be the top candidate to start in his place. But Spoelstra stopped short Thursday morning of definitively saying Lowry would start for Vincent in Game 5.

Other options to start in Vincent’s place on Thursday include Caleb Martin, Haywood Highsmith and Duncan Robinson.

Lowry, 37, began the season as the Heat’s starting point guard but has not started a game since Feb. 2. He has instead become an important part of Miami’s bench rotation since returning two months ago on March 11 from a 15-game absence due to left knee soreness.

The Heat is also expected to turn to others like Adebayo, Butler and Martin to take on more of the ball-handling duties with Vincent out on Thursday.

“We haven’t played traditionally like that basically all season and that’s the luxury of the versatility of this roster, having guys like Jimmy and Bam that can handle and shoulder a lot of those responsibilities,” Spoelstra said. “Kyle, obviously, is feeling great with where he is physically. He loves to compete, loves these kind of moments and Caleb has really grown as a ball-handler, as well.”

The Heat will be without three guards in Game 5. Along with missing Vincent, Miami also remains without Tyler Herro (hand surgery) and Victor Oladipo (knee surgery).

If the Heat loses Thursday, Vincent’s next opportunity to return will come in Game 6 of the East finals on Saturday in Miami. If the Heat wins Thursday, Vincent will have until the June 1 start of the NBA Finals to rest his ankle.

“I’ve made a lot of progress, even from when we got [into Boston] last night,” Vincent said Thursday. “So it’s moving in the right direction. I just hope it continues to trend that way and we’ll see what happens.”