As Miami Heat star Norman Powell left Thursday's loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, 124-117, the team has received a key injury update on the All-Star guard. While the Heat star is dealing with a nagging groin injury, an MRI revealed the severity of the issue, while also getting a label for how much time he'll miss.
Powell will be out for Saturday afternoon's matchup against the Houston Rockets, with an MRI showing that he has a Grade 1 strain, as he will be considered “week-to-week” by the team. The week-to-week label is crucial compared to “day-to-day” as other players have been considered in the past.
Looking at just this upcoming week, after Saturday's game, Miami will have four games with Powell at risk of missing all of them with the groin strain. Powell only played in 10 minutes of Thursday's loss, leaving with a groin injury, as he even entered the game questionable with the issue before being upgraded to “available.”
“We’re going to have to evaluate that when we get back in Miami,” Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra said after the loss, via video from the team's YouTube page. “It wasn’t that he couldn’t [play], it was that one slide against [Tyrese] Maxey, and he overextended it. So that’s the same one that he’s been dealing with, and we’ll just have to see what it is.”
Heat's Tyler Herro is likely to fill the void left by Norman Powell
Powell has been Miami's leading scorer with 22.5 points on 47.3 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent from three-point range, leading the 32-year-old to become a first-time All-Star. For most of the season, he had been filling in as the top offensive guard with Tyler Herro missing significant time.
Now the roles will be reversed, as while Herro has come off the bench since returning from the ribs injury, one would imagine he's inserted in the starting lineup, though the ongoing injury issues with the team have been frustrating.
“It’s obviously very tough,” Herro said. “We just want to stay healthy, keep guys healthy, pray for Norm. I hope he’s all right.”
It remains to be seen how long Powell misses time for the Heat.
