Heat to be Without Two Players For Game 2 vs Cavaliers
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The Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat are facing off in Game 2 of the one versus eight matchup in the Eastern Conference playoff bracket tonight at 7:30 p.m. EST.
Entering the game, the Cavaliers are completely healthy, but the Heat have a decent number of players on the injury report. Of those players, most are available, but two specifically are out.
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Veteran Kevin Love is out due to personal reasons, while Terry Rozier is out with a left ankle sprain.
Neither played in Game 1 of the series, and during the regular season, both had minimal production.
Rozier finished the regular season with a stat line of 10.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game in 64 games, which he only started 23 of.
Love at 36 years old finished the season with 5.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and one assist per game in 23 games, which he started nine of.
Evan Mobley #4 of the Cleveland Cavaliers celebrates after scoring over Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat during the first quarter of game one of the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
Evan Mobley #4 of the Cleveland Cavaliers celebrates after scoring over Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat during the first quarter of game one of the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs.Rozier is the bigger loss, as he played 25.9 minutes per game during the regular season. However, Davion Mitchell picked up a good amount of the point guard slack, finishing Game 1 with 18 points, four rebounds, and nine assists.
While the Heat need all the help they can get to take down the 64-18 Cavaliers, at least they have enough depth to overcome a few small injuries to role players.
It is uncertain when either player will return. Rozier was originally listed as questionable, which could mean he will return soon, but he may not get the chance to return if the Cavaliers go on to sweep the series, a possibility after a dominant Game 1 victory.
It is also unclear when Love will return. He has been out since March, and it is unknown when his personal reasons for being out will clear up.
On the injury report, the Heat also has Alec Burks, Haywood Highsmith, Nikola Jovic, Pelle Larsson, and Duncan Robinson listed with injuries, but all are available.
While it was unlikely the Heat would win the series anyway, it is certainly unfortunate for them that there is a huge discrepancy in health between the two teams.
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Beyond the Cavaliers having everyone available, they don't even have a single player on the injury report who was at risk of missing out.
The Heat has a total of seven, emphasizing the vast difference in overall play between these two teams.
For the Heat's sake, they need to get healthy sooner rather than later if they want any chance to topple the top-seeded Cavs.
For more NBA news and rumors, stay tuned to Newsweek Sports.
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