Dwyane Wade’s knees are holding up just fine in 2014-2015, and his shoulder hasn’t been a problem for years. But another nagging issue has been plaguing the Miami Heat superstar this season – hamstring pain. The three-time champion left his team’s 109-102 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday early in the third quarter with a right hamstring strain and didn’t return.
https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/560258315490701313
Though Miami hadn’t determined the extent of Wade’s latest malady immediately after the game, Erik Spoelstra didn’t exactly seem optimistic:
https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/560276529566208000
The 10-time All-Star missed seven games in November with a strained hamstring in his other leg, and the injury popped-up again earlier this month when he was sidelined for consecutive contests. The Heat are 5-5 without Wade in the lineup.
Miami has underwhelmed in part due to a rash of injuries to ancillary players. Josh McRoberts is out for the year and the team played without the perpetually banged-up Luol Deng and Chris Andersen. The 20-25 Heat are currently seventh-place in the woebegone bottom half of the Eastern Conference playoff bracket, trailing Milwaukee by a full three games.
On the bright side for Miami, Hassan Whiteside continued his eye-opening play against the Bucks with 16 points and 16 rebounds in a season-high 36 minutes. And while he and Chris Bosh (29 points) proved a mighty impressive frontcourt tandem on Tuesday, their impact combined with little help obviously won’t be enough for the Heat to live up early season promise.
We’ll keep you updated as information on Wade’s status becomes available.
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