The Heat was without Goran Dragic in Wednesday’s home game against the Spurs.
Dragic was unavailable due to a right knee injury that he tried to play through in Monday’s win over the Pistons. The knee swelled up following the game.
An MRI on Dragic’s right knee returned negative.
“It didn’t feel right,” Dragic said of playing through the pain in Monday’s victory. “But it’s weird because when you have swelling, you can’t extend it and you can’t bend it. It’s not painful, it’s just a weird feeling.”
When he returns to the court, though, there’s a trend he will be looking to break.
Dragic, 32, entered Wednesday averaging a team-high 12.6 drives to the basket per game this season. That’s not the surprising part, as the 6-3, 190-pound point guard has led the Heat in penetration attempts in two of the past three seasons.
The eye-opening stat is the amount of fouls Dragic has drawn with his aggressive style. He has drawn one foul on his 101 drives this season, according to the NBA’s tracking statistics.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We’re going to continue to encourage Goran to drive and be aggressive, get in the paint, make things happen. He’s a walking collision when he walks out on the court, and you put a ball in his hands because of his aggressive nature.”
To put those numbers into perspective, Cleveland’s Collin Sexton has drawn eight fouls on 60 drives, and Washington’s Kelly Oubre Jr. has drawn six fouls 50 drives this season.
This is nothing new for Dragic, as he was fouled on just 3.4 percent of his penetration attempts last season (the lowest rate among those in the top 10 in drives). He has drawn a foul on 1 percent of his drives this season.
“I look at it this way, I don’t have control over that,” Dragic said. “I’m still going to do what I do. We’ll see if they’re going to call it good for me, but if not I’m just going to play through it. That’s the only thing I can do.”
While these numbers are hard to explain for a player who gets into the paint as much as Dragic does, one reason for the lack of whistles could be the amount of times his drives end with a pass. Dragic is passing it on 39.6 percent of his drives, which is the third-highest percentage among the 23 players averaging at least 12 drives per game this season.
“I believe eventually he will be rewarded for that aggressiveness,” Spoelstra said. “I don’t want him to stop doing it based on how the game has been officiated. It will turn for him.”
Injury updates
While Dwyane Wade missed Wednesday’s game due to personal reasons, center Hassan Whiteside returned after missing Monday’s win with a right knee injury.
An MRI on Whiteside’s injured knee returned negative Tuesday.
“It feels good. Just feeling better,” Whiteside said. “The soreness went away. Having those days to recoup and watch some film and just being there and seeing my team get a win, it was great.”
Duncan Robinson, who is one of the Heat’s two-way contract players, traveled from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to Miami and was active Wednesday against the Spurs. It marks the third NBA day used on his 45-day two-way contract clock.
The Heat remained without James Johnson and Dion Waiters, who have yet to play this season. Johnson is recovering from May hernia surgery, and Waiters is recovering from January ankle surgery.
Vice plates are here
The Heat announced Wednesday that a Vice-themed version of the team’s Florida license plate will be available. There will be a mobile and in-arena DMV at all Vice Nights home games where Heat fans can trade in their old license plate and upgrade to this new Vice Nights version.
A look at the Heat’s new Vice-themed license plates.
Courtesy of Miami Heat
Fans can get the Vice license plate as early as Thursday night at the team’s Midnight Madness event held at AmericanAirlines Arena. The plates can also be purchased statewide at auto tag agency locations beginning Friday.
More information on obtaining a Vice license plate can be found at HEAT.com/ViceNights.