MIAMI _ The Winslow Watch will head into a third week for the Miami Heat, with forward Justise Winslow out for Monday night's game against the Charlotte Hornets at AmericanAirlines Arena.
After absorbing a hard blow in a collision that left Denver Nuggets forward Paul Millsap requiring 11 stitches in a Nov. 5 Heat road loss, Winslow entered the NBA's concussion protocol and has been sidelined since.
With the absence against the Hornets, it makes it nine consecutive games missed by the 2015 first-round pick out of Duke. Factoring in the two games he missed prior to the Nuggets game, Winslow has now been out for 11 of the past 12, limited to five appearances.
A starter prior to the concussion, Winslow has been wearing shaded glasses at AmericanAirlines Arena, yet to return to practice. NBA concussion rules require all symptoms to be gone prior to a return to the court.
Of the time Winslow has missed, coach Erik Spoelstra said Monday it is all a matter of following NBA guidelines.
"Once you go into the protocol," he said, "it takes as long as it requires. Until he goes through all the stages, this is pretty cut and dried on it _ you just follow the protocol."
In addition to Winslow, the Heat remain without forward Derrick Jones Jr., with the Hornets game the eighth he has missed with a strained left hip. Jones previously missed four games with a strained left groin, appearing in just four games, only two since Oct. 26.
Second-round pick KZ Okpala, the forward out of Stanford, also remains sidelined, with Monday the 12th consecutive game he has missed with a strained left Achilles, having made only two appearances for a total of three minutes this season.
Remaining away from the team is guard Dion Waiters, with Monday the eighth game on his 10-game suspension for what the Heat termed "conduct detrimental to the team." Waiters is eligible to return Sunday against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center.
