The Miami Heat have won their last four games to get themselves out of a rut and now have their record up to 27-21 which is the fourth best mark in the Eastern Conference. On Monday afternoon though, the Heat received some bad news as backup guard Tyler Johnson will undergo surgery and will likely miss about two months, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
Johnson has been dealing with the shoulder injury since he was in college at Fresno State but he has been able to play with. Earlier this season Johnson was given the option of having surgery but he instead chose to go the rest and rehab route until now. Johnson just missed the Heat's last two games with the shoulder injury and before that it was really affecting his play as the injury is to his shooting (left) shoulder.
Johnson was listed as day-to-day after missing Sunday's game against the Hawks and even travelled with the team for their current road trip, according to Ethan J. Skolnick of the Miami Herald. The prevailing thought process was that Johnson would wait until the offseason to get surgery but he surprisingly decided to get it now. The two month timetable is an extremely preliminary one but it is likely he could miss much more time than that.
A clearer timetable will be available after Johnson undergoes the surgery later this week but the best case scenario is that he is back in the beginning of April. It is completely reasonable to think Johnson will miss the rest of the regular season and some of the playoffs should Miami get in.
Johnson has been an integral part of Miami's success so far this season as one of the main guys off the bench. Johnson is a combo guard who is averaging 8.7 points in 24 minutes per game and the Heat will miss his presence. Johnson is set to become a restricted free agent this offseason and having this surgery could hinder how much money his next contract will pay him.
With Johnson out expect Beno Udrih, Justise Winslow and Gerald Green to each get a little more time with Udrih likely being the biggest beneficiary minutes wise.
