Atlanta Hawks vs Miami Heat: injury report for the NBA 2023 Play-in tournament game
The Play-In Tournament is set to begin with a bang when the Hawks and Heat meet each other on Tuesday, but unfortunately Miami, not everybody is healthy.
The Miami Heat will be facing a tough task on Tuesday, as they have to take on a full-strength Atlanta Hawks without their biggest star. Needless to say, it’s going to take everything they have if they want to clinch that all important No. 7 seed for the playoffs.
Banged up Heat to face Hawks without Kyle Lowry
According to the Miami Heat’s injury report, Kyle Lowry likely won’t be on the court when they face the Atlanta Hawks in the Play In battle for the No. 7 seed. Lowry, who has been struggling with soreness in his left knee has been listed as questionable. This of course is not surprising, given that Lowry only recently returned from a 15-day layoff due to the very same problem. On the other hand, timing couldn’t be worse as the Heat attempt to make it to the post season.
Where his contribution is concerned, Lowry has been averaging 11.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game, while shooting 40.4% from the field. It would be fair to say that his productivity has dipped this season, however, if the Heat are to get anywhere in the Play-In Tournament and beyond, it will most definitely be with Lowry on the court. Interestingly, Lowry did play in Miami’s final game of the regular season against the Orlando Magic, so there is hope that he will be back in the mix sooner rather than later.
Miami has other injury problems as well
As mentioned above, Atlanta is expected to be fully fit. There were some fears that Hawks star, Trae Young, would be absent but that notion has since been dismissed. This of course only compounds Miami’s situation which is that there are others who have been ruled out due to injury. Aside from Lowry, the Heat will also be without the services of Nikola Jovic who continues to struggle with back issues and there is also Max Strus who has been listed as probable with a finger hyperextension. Should the Heat lose to the Hawks, they will face the winner of the Raptors/Bulls showdown for a chance at the No. 8 seed. We imagine that’s something they will want to avoid.