According to Adrian Wojarnowski, Miami Heat guard Josh Richardson will be out for an extended period of time as the regular season winds down.
The Miami Heat finally had all the elements of their starting lineup back on active duty on Wednesday against the Boston Celtics with the return of both Justise Winslow and Josh Richardson. Winslow had missed the previous nine games with a thigh bruise and Richardson the previous three games with a heel injury.
As has been the trend for the Heat this season, they were struck with injury woes again almost instantly. After just 16 minutes of action Richardson came out of the game with a groin injury, and according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski the prognosis is not good.
Sources: MRI on Miami guard Josh Richardson’s groin reveals no damage, but he could miss two weeks — which is an obvious blow to Heat’s chances of securing a playoff spot in final days of season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 4, 2019
Richardson will miss two weeks with this groin injury with just four games left in the regular season. Even if the Heat do make the playoffs, this injury has the potential to leak well into the first round. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that they could make the playoffs and Richardson makes his return when the Heat return home for games three and four of their series.
Josh Richardson was in the midst of the best season of his four-year career from a counting stats perspective, averaging 16.6 points, 4.1 assists, 3.6 rebounds.
With Richardson out, it’s possible the Heat will start James Johnson in his stead, or they may leave Goran Dragic at point guard and shift Justise Winslow from the point as he’s played recently when healthy and slot him into the small forward spot.
While the Heat have been snakebitten from an injury perspective from the moment the season started, they do have the small blessing of a great deal of positional interchangeability. The ability to mix and match as need be to respond to injuries has been a saving grace considering how much time has been missed by vital players in 2018-19.