The Miami Heat have lost 24-year old starting point guard Mario Chalmers for the next couple of weeks due to a sprained knee.  Chalmers has played in 64 games (28 starts) for the Heat so far this year and he is averaging 22.8 minutes, 6.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  32-year old Mike Bibby will move into the starting lineup at point guard for the Heat until Chalmers is ready to return to action.  Bibby has played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Heat so far this year and he is averaging 22.3 minutes, 6.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.  He is 16 of 35 (45.7%) from three point range with the Heat, so he could be lethal offensively as he will likely get a lot of open jumpers.

Starting power forward Chris Bosh is going to miss some significant playing time due to a high ankle sprain.  Bosh has played in 42 games (all starts) for the Heat so far this year and he is averaging 35.5 minutes, 18.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.  The Heat are going to miss Bosh’s offfense but they might even be better on defense.  That is because Joel Anthony will continue to start at get big minutes while Bosh is out of action.  In his last three games, Anthony is averaging 38.7 minutes, 1.3 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 3.3 blocked shots per game.  He has only shot 5 times in those three games.  Anthony has now played in 41 games (10 starts) for the Heat so far this year and he is averaging 19.7 minutes, 1.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game.  Juwan Howard will also likely see increased P.T. while Bosh is out of action.  Howard has played in 35 games (0 starts) for the Heat so far this year and he is averaging 11.5 minutes, 2.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  The Heat need Bosh to get back soon because the offense is going to likely really suffer without him.

The Heat will be without 30-year old power forward Udonis Haslem until at least the All-Star Break after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left foot. Haslem has played in 13 games (0 starts) for the Heat so far this year and he is averaging 26.5 minutes, 8.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. Haslem does all of the dirty work for the Heat and he has done so since coming to the team as a undrafted free agent. Haslem has now played in 530 games (386 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 30.8 minutes, 10.0 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. The Heat is going to have to have someone step up to replace Haslem.

The Miami Heat will be without SG/SF Mike Miller for the next several weeks due to a serious right thumb injury. He was injured in practice yesterday. This is a huge blow to the Heat as Miller was going to be the sixth man and the long range assassin as he has a great outside shooter. Eddie House or James Jones will likely serve in that role until Miller comes back and neither of them are anywhere near his league as a player.

UPDATE: (10/22/2010) – Miller will be out until at least January. This is a big blow to the Heat.

The Miami Heat were on top of their game in March, finishing the month 12-3 and putting themselves only 1/2 game out of the 5th spot in the Eastern Conference standings.  Their leader Dwyane Wade had a great month of March.  He had six games where he scored 30 points or more and also had five games where he had 10 assists or more.  For the month, he ended up averaging 26.9 points, 7.5 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 2.3 steals, and 1.0 blocks.  Those are all above his season averages.  Wade got some great help from his supporting cast as well.  Guys like Jermaine O’Neal, Udonis Haslem, and Carlos Arroyo all had some nice contributions over the past month.  The Heat have obviously been hot, and after a 98-81 blowout win Wednesday over the Detroit Pistons, they have now won six in a row heading into the final stretch of the season.  They only have seven games left, and all seven of those games are against some pretty weak opponents.  All seven of their final opponents have records well below .500.  The toughest team left on their schedule is the 28-47 Indiana Pacers.  The only negative for the Heat right now is that Jermaine O’Neal is battling a knee injury, which forced him out of Wednesday night’s win.  Still, the Heat should be pretty confident as the season winds down and I expect them to beat out the Milwaukee Bucks for the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.  The Bucks have a much more difficult schedule down the stretch, and the Heat are red hot.

The Miami Heat’s superstar guard Dwyane Wade has missed three straight games with a calf injury.  Wade injured his calf early in the game against the New Jersey Nets on 2/17 but the injury is not deemed serious.  He had an MRI on the calf and it revealed a minor strain, and no tears or long-term damage.  The problem with a calf strain is that it is similar to an injury like a hamstring strain, meaning that it can linger for quite a while if it doesn’t get enough rest.  The Heat need Wade as he is averaging 26.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.1 blocks this season.  They don’t want to rush it though and make the injury worse, so they are “cautiously optimistic” that Wade could be back as early as this weekend.  Don’t be surprised if Wade is out longer though.

The Heat will be without back-up point guard Mario Chalmers indefinitely due to a torn ligament in his left thumb. He has played in 46 games (22 starts) for the Heat this season and he is averaging 24.7 minutes, 7.2 points, 1.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game. The Heat are lucky that they held onto Carlos Arroyo who will take over Chalmers’ minutes. Arroyo has played in 38 games (11 starts) this season for the Heat and he is averaging 16.1 minutes, 4.7 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. The Heat should be o.k. until Chalmers returns to action because Arroyo is a decent ball player.

Starting center Jermaine O’Neal suffered a broken nose against the Bulls but he will continue to play. That is a good thing for the Heat as O’Neal has been outstanding this season. O’Neal has started all three games for the Heat this season and he is averaging 30.0 minutes, 17.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. The Heat need O’Neal to play in as many games as possible this season because he is the best interior offensive and defensive player on the Heat’s roster.

With this season lost already the Heat have decided to shut down Dwyane Wade for the remainder of the year. D-Wade played in 51 games (49 starts) this season for the Heat and he averaged 38.3 minutes, 24.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game. With Wade out for the season look for Ricky Davis and Shawn Marion to carry the offense. The Heat also will likely have a ton of ping pong balls in the NBA Draft Lottery because I don’t see them winning many games the rest of the season.

Dorell Wright will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery on his left knee. That’s really a shame because Wright was finally starting to live up to his potential. He played in 43 games (33 starts) this season for the Heat and he averaged 25.2 minutes, 7.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. He shot 48.6% from the floor and 82.1% from the free throw line. Ricky Davis will likely pick the minutes up that Wright used to get. Davis has played in 57 games (24 starts) this season and he is averaging 13.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.