ATLANTA – After a scoreless performance when he played only 12 minutes in Sunday night’s critical road loss to the Indiana Pacers, guard Duncan Robinson was downgraded by the Miami Heat to being out for Tuesday night’s game against the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena.
Out for five games with a back ailment listed as left facet syndrome, the sixth-year guard returned in the March 31 road victory over the Washington Wizards as a starter.
But in his five games back through Sunday’s loss, when he played only 4:30 in the second half, Robinson had shot only 8 of 28 from the field and 6 of 26 on 3-pointers, including Sunday’s 0 for 4, with all of those attempts on 3-pointers. Despite the back issue, Robinson had been reinserted with 6.6 seconds left in Indiana with the Heat down three in what turned into a 117-115 loss.
Robinson on Monday had been listed as probable in the initial injury report submitted by the Heat to the NBA.
Upon making his return, Robinson said he had pushed to get back as soon as possible.
“Syndrome can be misleading,” he said of his back ailment. “But I guess that’s the medical name for whatever was going on. But yeah, trying to do everything I can to get back on the floor.
“Obviously, I pride myself on being out there and being available, so just doing whatever I could to get back.”
Robinson hinted upon his return he was not necessarily fully over the episode.
“There’s definitely concern,” he said. “It was an issue that had kind of built up over time a little bit. So trying to be smart about managing it. When I do come back, I want to try to stay back and not have to be in and out, develop some continuity in that sense.”
Instead, there now is question of what is next, with the Heat’s schedule immediately continuing on Wednesday night against the Dallas Mavericks at Kaseya Center, the start of a season-ending three-game homestand that concludes Sunday.
Should the Heat need to attempt to qualify for the playoffs through the play-in round, which appears likely, they then would play next Tuesday night in a bid for the No. 7 playoff seed. The playoffs open April 20.
Until this back issue, Robinson had missed only two games this season due to injury, when he sat out a pair of November losses with a sprained right thumb. He also missed three games from Jan. 31-Feb. 4 in the NBA’s concussion protocol.