Heat’s Dion Waiters Doubtful With Ankle Injury

The Miami Heat will likely be without the services of Dion Waiters when they go for a 12th straight win on Wednesday.

Waiters is battling an ankle injury, which had him leave the arena in a walking boot just two days ago. The guard has since missed a shootaround and is considered doubtful to play in Wednesday's game. This would be a tremendous blow to Miami, and would likely put Tyler Johnson in position for more minutes.

During Miami's 11-game winning streak, Waiters has been the team's most consistent and reliable player. The 25-year old picked up a Player of the Week award along the way, and led the team in scoring on multiple occasions.

Waiters has averaged 15.5 points and 4.2 assists, while playing just under 33 minutes per game this season. When breaking his season down month-to-month, Waiters has shown an increased level of productivity in each and every month. Thus far in February, the veteran guard is averaging nearly 18 points a game.

While it hurts the team to be without Waiters, his absence is not expected to be long. This could be a situation where the veteran only misses a game, and is back for Miami's next contest.

"He's been getting a lot of treatment and is feeling better," head coach Erik Spoelstra said on Wednesday.

In addition to an increased workload for Johnson, this injury would likely lead to a starting assignment for Wayne Ellington. The Heat had a superb first half in their last game on their tries from beyond the three-point line. Ellington is a player that can find a rhythm and add some treys as well. In somewhat limited duty this year, Ellington is averaging 11 points per game and has made roughly 35% of his three-point tries.