Heat guard leaves game vs. Nets with leg injury

Heat guard Dru Smith experienced a lower left leg injury in Monday’s contest vs. Brooklyn and was ruled out for the remainder of the contest, the team announced (via X).

While the severity of the injury has yet to be formally revealed, it didn’t look good in real-time, according to a couple of local reporters (X links via Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald).

Smith went straight back to the locker room after the injury, with his wife joining him, per Winderman and Chiang. For what it’s worth, several fans replying in the comments seem to think Smith may have suffered an Achilles injury.

As Chiang observes (via X), the third-year guard is on a two-way contract and he appeared to be the front-runner to be promoted to a standard deal, with the Heat having to fill their 14th standard spot by Dec. 29 after trading Thomas Bryant. A major injury would be a devastating outcome for both parties, but especially for Smith, who missed most of last season with a torn right ACL.

Smith, who turns 27 years old next week, has been a rotation fixture for Miami of late, partly due to his impressive defense. Over the past eight games, he had averaged 9.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.3 steals in 26.1 minutes, with a shooting line of .532/.560/.769.