The Miami Heat are not alone with their injury concerns at point guard in the Eastern Conference finals.
The Boston Celtics announced Monday that Marcus Smart, winner of this season’s Defensive Player of the Year award, suffered a mid-foot sprain in Sunday’s Game 7 deciding victory over the visiting Milwaukee Bucks in the East semifinals.
Smart is listed as questionable for Tuesday’s 8:30 p.m. Game 1 against the Heat at FTX Arena, at the start of the best-of-seven series that will determine which team faces the Golden State Warriors or Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.
Celtics coach Ime Udoka said Smart, who took a hard fall during the first quarter of Sunday’s game but continued on, is “pretty tender and sore.”
Smart missed Game 2 of the Celtics’ series against the Bucks due to a quad contusion.
For their part, the Heat have the ongoing injury concern of the strained left hamstring that kept Kyle Lowry out of the final two games of the 4-2 second-round victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Lowry, who has not played since May 8 and has missed five of the past seven games, again was limited to work on the side during the Heat’s Monday practice, later in the day formally listed as out for Tuesday night’s Game 1.
Coach Erik Spoelstra said there was no new update, but Heat forward Jimmy Butler said he remains optimistic, while also heartened by Lowry’s commitment to find a way to still have an impact.
“He’s smiling, knowing that he’s close to returning,” Butler said. “But he’s doing everything he can to get back, and he’s doing everything he can to make sure we’re all prepared in case he can’t go.”
That had Lowry not only conferring with Butler, but also with Heat playoff neophytes Max Strus and Gabe Vincent, who has been the replacement starting point guard.
“I think that’s the thing that shows who he is as a person, as a leader the most, is he wants myself to be successful, Gabe, Max, all the way down the line,” Butler said. “So as we’re studying film, he’s right next to us making sure everybody knows what’s going on.”
The Celtics had positive injury news Monday, with Udoka saying that center Robert Williams is fully cleared to play Tuesday. Williams, who has been limited by a knee issue since March, was available Sunday but did not play against the Bucks.
“He’s available, no minutes restriction,” Udoka said, with Williams out of the mix the final four games against Milwaukee. “I’m always going to be a little bit cautious with guys coming off a layoff without touching the court, but it’s a little bit different starting a new series as opposed to being injected into a Game 7 or Game 6 or whatever the case was before. But he’s available, looking better every day, and getting more confident in that.”
As for the rest of the Heat’s injury report, listed as questionable are Caleb Martin (ankle sprain), Strus (hamstring strain), P.J. Tucker (calf strain) and Vincent (hamstring strain), with all expected to play.
Summer plans
The Golden State Warriors on Monday formally announced that they will host a four-team summer league at the Chase Center ahead of the 30-team NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.
The Heat will play games on the Warriors’ court on July 2 against a similar group of young players and free agents from the Los Angeles Lakers, and then on July 3 against the summer roster of the Sacramento Kings.
The Las Vegas summer league then opens July 6.
Among potential members of the Heat’s summer roster are forward Haywood Highsmith, two-way players Javonte Smart and Mychal Mulder, the player the Heat selects with the No. 27 pick in the June 23 NBA draft, members of this past season’s G League roster, and possibly center Omer Yurtseven.
