The Miami Heat will again be missing a chunk of its rotation for Friday night’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Kaseya Center.
After ruling out center Kel’el Ware (left knee sprain) and forward Nikola Jovic (broken right hand) on Thursday, the Heat also ruled out forward Andrew Wiggins (sprained right ankle) and guard Alec Burks on (low back pain) just a few hours before Friday’s game against the Timberwolves.
The encouraging news for the Heat is it will get forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. back on Friday after he missed the previous three games with a sprained right ankle. The Heat could also get guard Tyler Herro back after he missed Wednesday’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers with an illness, as Herro is still listed as questionable but will warm up with the intention to play Friday.
Ware will sit out his third straight game because of a knee sprain, Jovic will miss his seventh straight game with a broken hand, Wiggins will be held out of his fifth straight game with an ankle sprain and Burks will miss his first game with a back issue.
Dru Smith, who suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in December, also remains unavailable for the Heat on Friday.
In addition, Josh Christopher will also miss Friday’s game in Miami. He’s back in the G League as part of his two-way contract after joining the undermanned Heat in Cleveland for Wednesday’s game against the Cavaliers.
The only player on the Timberwolves’ injury report is center Rudy Gobert, who will miss Friday’s game in Miami due to low back injury maintenance.