As the Miami Heat closed out the five-game West Coast road trip with a 115-109 win over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night, it featured a game-saving defensive play from Klay Thompson, though it could come back to haunt him. With Thompson headlining the Heat newcomers along with Giannis Antetokounmpo, the latest practice update ahead of Friday's NBA Cup group play game against the Cleveland Cavaliers is one that fans want to hear.
After Miami came back from the aforementioned road trip, the team conducted practice on Thursday, though Thompson and Pelle Larsson didn't participate. As Larsson is dealing with an illness that kept him out of practice, and also for a chunk of the preseason, Thompson is nursing a left ankle injury, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
“Klay Thompson (left ankle) and Pelle Larsson (illness) did not practice today. Thompson landed awkwardly after completing his chase-down block late in the win over the Jazz,” Chiang wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
As Chiang mentions, Thompson suffered the injury on a chase-down block on Josh Green with just over a minute left in Tuesday's win in Utah, as the standout play prevented the Jazz from making it a five-point game instead of a seven-point lead for Miami.
Article Continues BelowKLAY THOMPSON WITH A CLUTCH CHASEDOWN BLOCK FOR THE HEAT 🚫 pic.twitter.com/jmWPFNBaRC
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 11, 2026
In the win, Thompson finished with 11 points on three-of-13 shooting from the field and making two of 10 from three-point range.
Thompson experienced a slow start in the regular season with the Heat, but has since found a groove, though Tuesday's contest was relatively pedestrian. This season, the 36-year-old has averaged 14.4 points on 42.9 percent shooting from the field and 40.8 percent from deep.
At any rate, it remains to be seen what the injury report will look like for Thompson and Miami ahead of Friday against the Cavaliers in NBA Cup group play action.