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Miami Heat player tears Achilles after recovering from torn ACL

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Darryn Albert | Last updated Dec 24, 2024 3:23 PM ET

An unfathomably bad stretch of luck continues for one Miami Heat player.

Heat guard Dru Smith had to leave Monday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets with a lower leg injury. During the second quarter of Miami’s eventual 110-95 victory, Smith was trying to drive on Brooklyn’s Keon Johnson when his left leg buckled as he was pushing off it.

Here is the video (where you can see some vibration in Smith’s leg).

Dru Smith’s injury.

He knew it was bad immediately

(via @Demar305) pic.twitter.com/P5wucaFF4G

— (@HeatvsHaters) December 24, 2024

On Tuesday, the worst fears were confirmed for Smith. Shams Charania of ESPN reported that Smith had indeed suffered a season-ending torn left Achilles on the play.

That is heartbreaking news for the 26-year-old Smith, who is on a two-way contract and had been positioning himself for a standard NBA contract with his solid play this season. Smith overcame an ACL tear that he suffered a little over a year ago on a strange play where he slipped on a piece of flooring (video here).

A former undrafted player, Smith recovered admirably from that injury after missing the rest of the 2023-24 campaign and had been averaging a strong bench line of 6.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.5 steals in just 19.1 minutes per game this year (plus an elite 53.3 percent shooting from three). But Smith is now facing another lengthy recovery due to a devastating injury, and you certainly have to feel for him.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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