Heat’s injury report for Bucks NBA Cup showdown features multiple key upgrades

MIAMI – After Miami Heat star Tyler Herro made his season debut in the 106-102 win over the Dallas Mavericks, the team was still missing key components to its rotation. Though the returning Herro for the Heat is a massive addition, the thought of a fully healthy team has some fans excited due to the early success, as the recent injury report for Wednesday’s NBA Cup game is a step in the right direction.

The biggest news before Monday’s game against Dallas was that Norman Powell was ruled out with a left groin strain and that there wasn’t a timetable for his return, with him being treated as “day-to-day.” Fortunately, he received a massive upgrade on Tuesday, being listed now as “probable” for the matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Powell’s injury would be downplayed before the Mavericks win, as head coach Erik Spoelstra said the “concern is not super high.”

“No,” Spoelstra said when asked if there had been a setback to Powell’s groin injury. “I think the bigger thing was that it was a back-to-back. We’ll treat them day to day. I don’t have a timeline on it, but the level of concern is not super high.”

Erik Spoelstra said there wasn’t a setback since Norman Powell had the groin strain in Chicago last Friday.

“The level of concern is not super high…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/vDiMqOUYCM

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) November 24, 2025

Plus, Andrew Wiggins and Nikola Jovic, who missed the last three and four games, respectively, are now “questionable” for the game, which is an upgrade after both had been ruled out immediately in those contests.

“What we’re dealing with right now, the three guys, is manageable right now,” Spoelstra said. “And so we’ll just see where that is. They’re all day to day, which I’m super grateful for.”

Erik Spoelstra asked about Steve Kerr’s thoughts on soft-tissue injuries and pace and if there’s anything to it. Says “potentially.”

Full thoughts on it, how listing injuries is difference, and how he’s “grateful” that Powell, Wiggins, Jovic are “day to day.” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/vnZ1Qq1OLH

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) November 24, 2025

As for some downgrades, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Dru Smith are being listed as questionable with “right hip tightness” and a “left hip contusion,” respectively.

Tyler Herro on what a fully healthy Heat team looks like 

As Herro made an impact in his Heat’s 2025-26 season debut, he would finish the game by scoring 24 points on 12 of 18 shooting from the field to go along with seven rebounds and three steals. Though looking rusty to start, which is a given since he hasn’t played an NBA game since last season’s playoffs, he gained rhythm as the game went along, even having the final field goal to ice the game.

After the win over the Mavericks, Herro would be asked how he envisions a fully healthy Miami team to look like, having a two-word answer. Herro would even say how “bummed” he was when hearing that Powell would be out for the game, mentioning how well the team had played with Wiggins and others.

“Super effective,” Herro said. “I was bummed out when I [saw] Norm was out tonight, you know, I was just wanted to see all that, you know, come together. Talking with [assiatant coach Chris] Quinn a little bit like, it’s going to be a process, you know, we’ve already played about 20 games, and I’ve missed almost all of them, so to be just acclimated back into the starting five, you know, and I’ve seen how well [Powell] and [Wiggins] and everyone’s playing off each other, just trying to come in and make the right play and let those guys be themselves.”

Tyler Herro feels that with everybody that’s hurt back on the court, Heat will be “super effective.”

Would say he was bummed when Powell was ruled out along with Wiggins and others. #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/ueyyR9RjCh

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) November 25, 2025

At any rate, it remains to be seen what the final statuses look like for each player on the injury report, but the Heat are currently 12-6, looking for six straight wins and a key win in the quest for the NBA Cup against the Bucks on Wednesday night.

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