Miami Heat forward Duncan Robinson will miss his third-straight game with a back injury. The injury is described as a “left sacroiliac joint dysfunction,” according to the team.
If you can recall, Robinson’s season was curtailed last year with a back injury. But Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra cleared the air Saturday after shootaround, saying the two injuries are currently unrelated and indicating the team is taking an extra-cautious approach with the injury.
“It’s different than last year,” Spoelstra said, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. “We think we will be able to manage it. We want to be responsible and give as much treatment and then appropriate ramp-up.”
Robinson nor Andrew Wiggins, who is dealing with a hamstring injury, did not make the road-trip with the Heat. They begin their three-game stint away from home Saturday against the Philadelphia 76ers before taking on the Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics.
According to Jackson, Robinson did not travel with the team because the injury “stems from “dysfunction” between the triangular bone at the base of his spine and two large bones that form the sides of his pelvis.”
He totaled just 18 and 19 minutes over his last two games, respectively, scoring just seven combined points on 3-of-10 shooting. Through 68 games this season, the 6-foot-7 sharpshooter averaged 11.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists on 38.7 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Robinson, who turns 31-years-old in April, was diagnosed with left facet syndrome at the end of last season. He missed nine of the team’s final 14 regular season games and was only available in the first round of the postseason by name. His back significantly hindered his ability to be impactful, shooting just 3-of-13 from deep in 59 total minutes.
Hopefully, he will be able to make a full recovery by the end of the season. It’s smart for the Heat to be extra precautions with any sort of back injuries, which can be very tricky. After this season, it’s worth mentioning that Robinson will have a partially guaranteed $19.9 million early termination option, which will become fully guaranteed on July 8.
It remains unclear whether or not Robinson will exercise that or not, but his ongoing back injuries could influence him to. It will definitely be a storyline to keep an eye on as the months wane on.
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Fortunately, most back injuries get better with the appropriate physical therapy, rest and posture training. Unfortunately, he is going to be exposed to the stressful exertion of NBA that is well known to exacerbate sports injury. Wish you a speedy recovery and no recurrence of this injury, Duncan!