As the Miami Heat's frustrations have grown after another disappointing loss on Thursday night to the Philadelphia 76ers, 124-117, the outing also featured the absence of a key player. Heat star Norman Powell would leave the 76ers game due to a groin injury, with head coach Erik Spoelstra giving some insight into the issue.
Powell only played 10 minutes, where he scored just three points to go along with three rebounds and two assists, as with leading the team with 22.5 points per game, his presence was missed. He came into the game on the injury report with “right groin soreness,” where he was questionable for the contest, though he was made available later.
With Miami now staying home for a three-game stretch, all eyes will be on his health as Spoelstra spoke about how he “overextended” the injury.
“We’re going to have to evaluate that when we get back in Miami,” Spoelstra said, according to The Miami Herald. “It wasn’t that he couldn’t [play]…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.”
Powell passed all the protocols and tests to play on Thursday, as the groin injury was “built up over time,” as the star said at that morning's shootaround.
Heat's Norman Powell on the ‘really frustrating' injuries
With the Heat's loss to the 76ers, the team has 22 games left to turn around the season and make a run to avoid the play-in tournament, with Powell being a key to bringing the offense to a standout level. Though Tyler Herro has made his return, recording 25 points and seven assists off the bench, Powell has been vital to the team as he's been racking up injuries in his back, along with the groin.
Powell would say the injuries have been “really frustrating,” though the way he acknowledged it is that bumps and bruises happen with a lot of players, expressing he has a “very high pain tolerance.”
It remains to be seen what Powell's status is for Miami's next game on Saturday against the Houston Rockets.
