A meaningless season finale took a sobering turn Friday for the Miami Heat when forward Derrick Jones Jr. was wheeled off the court in a neck brace after absorbing a blow to his shoulder and neck on a hard screen in the third quarter.
"It just takes the air out of the building," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after the 109-92 loss to the Indiana Pacers, as he awaited a further update. "Even as competitors, you don't want it on either side. You just want to be able to get through this game and be able to have everybody available for the playoffs."
Jones was moving his extremities as he was taken off the court.
"He got jarred in the shoulder-neck area," Spoelstra said. "Obviously, a little bit more than a stinger."
With the game played in the absence of fans at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex, amid the new coronavirus pandemic, the arena went silent as numerous medical officials tended to Jones.
ESPN reported that Spoelstra had hoped to limit Jones' time in the game that did not impact the playoff placement. Instead, Jones went down with 1:05 to play in the third quarter while absorbing a blow from a legal screen set by Indiana's Goga Bitadze.
"Look, things are going to happen. You can't just always be on eggshells," Spoelstra said.
Guard Kendrick Nunn said the tension was palpable.
"We're just keeping D. Jones in our prayers and hopefully get well and recover from that," he said. Spoelstra took a prudent approach against the team the Heat will face in their playoff opener Tuesday, holding out Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Goran Dragic, Jae Crowder and Andre Iguodala.
About the only significance in the game for the Heat was an attempt to get Nunn back on track, after his struggles to open the eight seeding games and then missing the three prior to Friday.
The game was Nunn's return from self-quarantine after briefly leaving the Disney bubble for a personal matter. He closed 8 of 27 from the field, including 1 of 9 on 3-pointers, for 23 points.
With caution ruling the day, Spoelstra opened with a lineup of Nunn, Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro, Kelly Olynyk ... and team captain Udonis Haslem making his fourth appearance of the season and first start. Haslem then drained his first 3-pointer since 2017, late in a first half that ended with the Pacers up 58-44.
The Pacers also erred on the side of caution, holding out Victor Oladipo, Myles Turner and T.J. Warren.
