{"id":105694,"date":"2026-01-05T00:29:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T00:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/105694\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T00:29:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T00:29:22","slug":"miami-heats-norman-powell-pushing-through-the-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/105694\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Heat’s Norman Powell pushing through the pain"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI \u2014 If the story of Norman Powell\u2019s first season with the Miami Heat is his ability to score, more than ancillary to that equation is his resilience.<\/p>\n

Saturday night\u2019s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> at Kaseya Center was the latest example of his ability to bounce back, leaving in the first quarter due to what the team termed leg soreness, listed as questionable to return at that point, and then back on the court in the second period.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a lot of discussion about that on the bench, because we\u2019re getting to know him,\u201d coach Erik Spoelstra said of turning around and seeing Powell ask back in. \u201cHe trusts his body. He knows his body better than anybody. He said he was good. He did pass the protocols once he came back to the locker room.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then Norm was fine the rest of the way \u2014 except for when he was getting clubbed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, a blow to the Heat endured, as well, by Powell.<\/p>\n

But again, not enough to keep a good scorer down.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like thugging things out is what I like to say,\u201d Powell said, with the Heat turning their attention to Sunday night\u2019s game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Kaseya Center, before opening a four-game trip on Tuesday night in Minnesota. \u201cI\u2019m not a person that\u2019s going to sit out or pull myself out of the game with certain injuries. If I\u2019m able to play and I feel that I\u2019m able to go out there and produce and be helpful for my team, I\u2019m going to go do that, no matter what the injury is.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve come back in games with a broken hand. The only injury I never came back in the game for was when I subluxed my shoulder back in my second year. I couldn\u2019t lift it up after that, even though I tried.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is an example that Powell, at 32,\u00a0insists on setting<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I\u2019m just a player that\u2019s going to play through all the bumps and bruises unless I physically can\u2019t go out there and play,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t want to take the game for granted. We\u2019ve only got a limited number of games and time in this league.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the late blow to the head? Just a bump to follow the bruises.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother lump or something back here,\u201d he said, touching the back of his head. \u201cI\u2019ve got some hair to cover it up. But yeah, I\u2019ve got a little lump back there. But I\u2019ve got to tell the coach, \u2018Man, I can take a punch, I can take some hits.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI pride myself on being tough and playing through stuff. So nothing that\u2019s too concerning for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herro upgraded<\/p>\n

After missing 12 games with a toe contusion, Heat guard Tyler Herro was upgraded Sunday at midday to probable for the Pelicans game.<\/p>\n

Then, about two hours before the game, the Heat announced that Herro would be available, but not expected to play, as he moves closer to his return, expected to travel on the four-game trip that opens Tuesday at Minnesota.<\/p>\n

Herro last played in the Heat\u2019s Dec. 9 NBA Cup road loss to the Orlando Magic.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been putting in a lot of work. He\u2019s getting closer,\u201d Spoelstra said pregame. \u201cThis is just more to get the mindset ready for the next step. He\u2019ll be traveling with us, but he\u2019s still day-to-day. I don\u2019t have an exact date when he\u2019ll be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, downgraded to doubtful at midday was guard Jaime Jaquez Jr., who left Saturday\u2019s loss with an ankle sprain. He later was declared out.<\/p>\n

Guard Pelle Larsson, who missed the past two games with an ankle sprain, was cleared to return.<\/p>\n

Forward Keshad Johnson remains on G League assignment, along with two-way players Vlad Goldin and Jahmir Young.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI \u2014 If the story of Norman Powell\u2019s first season with the Miami Heat is his ability to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105695,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[114,123,125,2490,124,2295,110],"class_list":{"0":"post-105694","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-latest-headlines","9":"tag-miami","10":"tag-miami-headlines","11":"tag-miami-heat","12":"tag-miami-news","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105694\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}