Dress rehearsal game? What’s latest injury news? Questions surround Heat entering preseason finale

The preseason has created Miami Heat questions that will soon be answered.

With the Heat (2-2) closing its five-game preseason schedule Friday against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center (8 p.m., Bally Sports Sun), answers to those questions that are expected in the coming days. The Heat opens the regular season on Wednesday against the Detroit Pistons at Kaseya Center.

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The Heat addressed some of those questions at Thursday’s practice:

▪ How will the Heat respond to its preseason injury issues?

The Heat received positive injury news and not-so-positive injury news on Thursday.

Heat guard Josh Richardson, who left Wednesday’ preseason home loss to the Brooklyn Nets early because of a right foot injury, underwent an MRI on Thursday that produced clean results. Richardson is considered day-to-day until the discomfort in his right foot subsides.

But Heat forward Haywood Highsmith wasn’t as fortunate, as an MRI on his left knee revealed an MCL sprain that he sustained during Wednesday’s preseason defeat. He will be re-evaluated in two weeks and will not be available for the start of the regular season.

Richardson, 30, missed the Heat’s second and third preseason games with left foot discomfort. He’ll miss Friday’s preseason finale because of an injury to his other foot.

Highsmith, 26, has played in each of the Heat’s first four preseason games but will also miss Friday’s preseason finale. The knee injury came during a quality preseason performance in Wednesday’s preseason loss the Nets, when he contributed 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 shooting on threes in 27 minutes.

Richardson and Highsmith are part of the Heat’s projected regular-season rotation. But Highsmith will definitely miss at least the first week of the regular season and Richardson’s status is now in question.

Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s availability for the start of the regular season is also up in the air. Jaquez will miss his fourth straight preseason game on Friday, but he recently began taking part in some on-court work after suffering a strained left groin in practice last week.

▪ Will the Heat have a preseason dress rehearsal for the regular season?

The answer is maybe, with most of the Heat’s regulars (except for the injured regulars) traveling to Houston for Friday’s preseason finale.

The only Heat players who did not travel to Houston on Thursday were Richardson (foot), Highsmith (knee), Jaquez (groin) and Jimmy Butler (dental procedure).

That means 15 of the 19 players on the Heat’s preseason roster made the trip to Houston, including some players who sat out Wednesday’s preseason loss because of injuries like R.J. Hampton, Tyler Herro and Caleb Martin.

There’s also a chance Butler could join the Heat in Houston on Friday and play against the Rockets after undergoing a dental procedure on Friday morning.

“Do I feel like I need to get in a preseason game? Not really,” Butler said following Thursday’s practice. “I think I’m in great shape. I think we get out here and compete, see what we need to see. But if I’m available, I’m available.”

With Butler and Martin sitting out the Heat’s first four preseason games, the Heat could finally have its dress rehearsal for the regular season in its fifth and final preseason game. Of course, the Heat has also gotten in plenty of quality work together behind closed doors on the practice court since training camp opened at the start of October.

“I hate using that term,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, referring to the concept of having a preseason dress rehearsal. “We already have been [working together]. I understand what you guys are saying that it’s got to be in a preseason game. But we got a lot of good work going in. ... We’ll be ready for Game 1 next week, for sure.”

▪ Who will the Heat choose to fill the final few spots on its regular-season roster?

That decision will come soon, as NBA teams have a 5 p.m. deadline on Monday to cut rosters to the regular-season maximum of 15 players (not including the three two-way contract slots). But teams will need to make those moves by 5 p.m. Saturday because of the 48-hour waiver period.

There are six players on the Heat’s current 19-man preseason roster competing for the 14th spot on the regular-season standard roster and the three two-way contract slots.

The Heat technically has two open slots on its 15-man standard roster for the regular season with only 13 players currently on standard deals, but the expectation is Miami will begin with 14 players on the standard roster in part because of its luxury tax position. NBA rules prevent teams from carrying fewer than 14 players for any extended stretch during the regular season.

Jamal Cain, Hampton and Dru Smith currently hold the Heat’s three two-way contracts and are fighting to either keep those spots or be promoted to the main roster as the 14th standard contract. Two-way deals can be swapped out at any time.

In addition, Justin Champagnie, Cheick Diallo and Cole Swider are on Exhibit 10 tryout contract players working to earn either a two-way contract or standard contract from the Heat.

The Heat could also sign an outside free agent to fill those openings.

Among the six players on the Heat’s preseason roster who are still hoping for a regular-season roster spot, Cain, Smith and Swider have stood out.

Cain’s play this preseason makes him one of the clear front-runners to get the 14th spot on the Heat’s standard roster. He finished Wednesday’s loss with seven points and 14 rebounds in 29 minutes, and has now totaled 45 points while shooting 18 of 32 (56.3 percent) from the field and 8 of 12 (66.7 percent) from three-point range and 31 rebounds (15 offensive and 16 defensive) over the Heat’s second, third and fourth preseason games after not getting into the preseason opener until there was 5:50 left in the fourth quarter.

“It’s just gratifying to see that kind of improvement from a young player, particularly when it’s not easy,” Spoelstra said of Cain, who entered the Heat’s system last summer after going undrafted out of Oakland University last year. “It’s just not for undrafted guys. You probably have more tough days than you have breakthrough days, and he’s stayed the course.”

Smith, who the Heat has developed into a point guard since he first joined the program as an undrafted prospect in 2021, contributed nine points, five rebounds and 10 assists in 28 minutes in Wednesday’s preseason loss.

“If you play him with your main guys, he knows how to really fit in and complement that kind of group,” Spoelstra said of Smith. “But if you need him to make those kind of plays, he’s rock solid. He tends to make the right play that the team sees, whether it’s a shot, a pass or getting off it early. He can get our group organized. A lot of it is really under the radar, it’s not spectacular stuff. But it’s winning stuff.”

Swider, who is known for his three-point shooting and spent last season on a two-way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, scored 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting from three-point range in the Heat’s preseason opener. He has shot 12 of 32 (37.5 percent) on threes through the first four preseason games.