Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was not a fan of the court design in Cleveland even before his point guard, Dru Smith, was injured on an out-of-bounds play on Wednesday night in a win over the Cavaliers. But now that an MRI has confirmed that Smith will be out for the year because of a Grade 3 ACL tear suffered on the play, Spoelstra is even more upset.
The Miami Heat have, according to a report in The Athletic, contacted the NBA about the 10-inch drop that surrounds the court at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, keeping it raised above the rubber that covers the ice below. Spoelstra acknowledged that there’s not much that is expected to happen with it, except that maybe a change can be made in the future.
“It is a dangerous floor,” Spoelstra said. “I don’t know the history of injuries here. But we’ve had a couple of scares in previous years when guys are closing out in that corner. Thankfully, nobody has been injured before. But it’s an accident waiting to happen.
The loss of Smith happened to coincide with the wrapping up of the Miami Heat’s devastating early-season grind of road games, which featured just five home games in the first 17 contests.
It was an especially solid coaching performance from Erik Spoelstra. Considering that, as well as the injuries the team has had to endure—Smith is out for the year, Tyler Herro has been out since November 8, Caleb Martin has missed 10 games, Duncan Robinson has a thumb injury—the fact that the Heat are sitting at 10-7 is a minor
