Goran Dragić had been struggling at the start of the 2015–16 NBA season but the Slovenian point guard had been showing progress over the last couple of games.
And just as that was happening, tragedy struck with Dragić falling to injury (strained calf). Such could relegate Dragić to the sidelines for now, but the timing couldn't have come at a worse time since the Heat are in the middle of a rough road trip.
The latest on Dragić is that he will be out for at least a week. So now, head coach Erik Spoesltra may have to find some other player to start in place of Dragić. Against the Denver Nuggets, the Heat showed they can survive. But the story will be, of course, different when they face the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) results have yet to show the severity of his injury but the understanding right now is that a week away could be enough for him to recover from the temporary setback. The Heat are currently 23–17 in the Eastern Conference and hopefully, Dragić's injury doesn't impact their performance mostly on the road.
With Johnson and Wade out, the Heat seem to have found able replacements for the meantime in Tyler Johnson and Beno Udrih.
Both shone against the Nuggets as Miami rallied from an 18-point deficit to pull out a win, 98–95.
But the win was made possible through the combined efforts of Chris Bosh and Hassan Whiteside.
Whiteside came up with an impressive performance, finishing with a triple-double (19 points, 17 rebounds and 11 blocks) while Bosh led the team with a game-high 24 points. Overall, however, everyone contributed in their own little way as the Heat played with only 10 players.
The Heat take a breather for now before facing a more formidable Thunder squad. The win against the Nuggets was impressive but the Heat may have more problems against Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook this Monday.
