The joy of the Heat (14-13) lasted narrowly despite cutting a three-defeat streak with a 110-95 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night at the Kaseya Center.
The escort Dru Smith suffered a serious injury in the second quarter of the game and although he walked out he did so supported by his arms two teammates.
Immediately there was a feeling of the seriousness of the injury, presumably breaking the Achilles tendon in the left leg. On Tuesday, after the mandatory MRI that confirmed that forecast, the Heat announced Smith would be absent for the rest of the season.
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Faced with these circumstances, Miami has the option to sign a free agent to define. The air left the sand when we saw it fall that way, said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. We all feel really bad. We all have an incredible and deep respect for Dru for his spirit of recovery.
In November 2023, Smith suffered a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee and missed the rest of last campaign. “I was at the Kaseya Center between seasons when no one was in the building,” Spoelstra recalled.
Dru was there too and he was undergoing intense treatment and rehabilitation all day. It showed admirable strength. One ends up handing over to people like him.
With just over four minutes of the second period in the match against the Nets, Smith started an attack and tried to dribleize his scoreboard with such bad luck that he planted his left foot badly.
There was no contact with his rival and he fell badly. Everyone knew something serious had happened. Smith sat baffled on the floor. He was helped to stand up by his teammates and immediately taken to the Cameroonian.
Heat players were devastated to see their fallen teammate, especially one who struggled so hard to recover from an earlier injury.
“All we can do is pray for him,” said Bam Adebayo, who was the Heat’s top scorer with 23 points against the Nets.
We always sit on the plane together and have long conversations. We are a thank you ever to life. Seeing a person of that quality fall into combat only makes him wish him the best.
Tyler Herro, one of the team’s leading figures, was also very touched by his partner’s injury.
“Very hard what happened to Dru,” Herro said not just for him but for the whole organization. He was playing really well. It’s very unfortunate to see him fall after all the effort he put in to recover from the knee. He’s one of my favorite mates. It really breaks my heart.
Next Monday, Smith will turn 27. He was recovering in great form and a lot of good things were shaping up for him.
Thanks to the pace he was resuming, Spoelstra began to give him opportunities consistently.
In the last eight games, Smith played double digits in consecutive minutes. In his 14 games this campaign his average was 6.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists with a tendency to improve.
Spoelstra, who had seen Smith try his best to regain his competitive level, was delighted with his pupil’s performance.
“Smith is like the glue that unites the pieces and can make any equipment work,” the strategist said. His performance determined that he should put him above any other.
On December 15, the Heat had rededed Bryan Thomas and there was a place on the list of 14 players required by the NBA.
Everything indicated that after the injury and thanks to its consistent performance, the Miami franchise was going to complete that space by extending a standard contract to Smith. Now that quota should be filled with another player.
In each game, the progress of rookie Kelel Ware, chosen in the first round by the Heat in the 2024 NBA Draft, is appreciated.
At the age of 20 and seven feet tall, many dare to say Ware is the center of the future of the club’s Surfloridan.
On Monday night, Ware contributed nine points and took seven rebounds in 17:29 minutes of play.
Increasingly its contribution is more important and shows that the Heat is unmatched in bringing promises in the right direction for its development.
It’s already happened with Adebayo, Nikola Jovic, James Jaquez Jr. and now Ware. The Heat will visit the Magic at the Kia Center on Thursday in Orlando, where they fell 121-114 on December 21.
