This is from Herald writer Aric Dilalla:
Heat guard Tyler Johnson was ruled out for Sunday’s game against Atlanta as he continues to battle a sore left shoulder, but he said there are currently no plans to undergo surgery.
“If I have the possibility of making it worse by playing,” Johnson said, “that would be a time when I just shut it down. Other than that, I think we just got to take it game by game.”
Johnson said expects to have conversations about surgery with doctors as the season progresses. For now, he said he plans to continue to play when he feels healthy. He said his current goal is to make it to the All-Star break, when he’ll get some extra rest.
As he fights the injury, Johnson said the pain isn’t the main thing keeping him out of the Heat’s rotation. Rather, the nature of the injury restricts his shoulder movement, which in turn affects his play.
“Without those movements, I can’t be the player they expect me to be when I’m out there,” Johnson said. “If you go out there and play, it’s not like, ‘oh, his shoulder’s hurting, so we’ll give him a pass.’”
Chris ‘Birdman’ Andersen, who was also ruled out of Sunday’s game, will continue to rehab his sore left knee with cardio work on a bicycle, Erik Spoelstra said. Andersen has yet to resume impact work and Spoelstra does not expect Andersen to travel with the Heat on its upcoming three-game road trip.
Center Hassan Whiteside was out again with an injured hip.
“We’ll just keep re-evaluating him,” Spoelstra said. “He was able to do a little bit more today.”
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