Heat’s Martin ‘trying to be smart’ with injury. Also, Butler resting, others out vs. Timberwolves

Caleb Martin doesn’t like missing games, but the Miami Heat wing also knows he’s not 100 percent.

So Martin begrudgingly sat out the Heat’s 119-111 loss to the Boston Celtics on Friday night at TD Garden because of lingering left knee tendinosis after initially being listed as probable for the contest before being downgraded to questionable and eventually ruled out just 30 minutes before tipoff. He played through the pain two nights before in the Heat’s season-opening win over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.

“Taking it day by day. Just being smart about it,” Martin said of the approach he’s taking with his injury. “Trying to be smart and make sure it doesn’t linger and prolong. Just get with the medical staff and the coaches and make sure we’re all on the same page. But my agenda is to try to play every game, but also be smart at the same time.”

Heat keeps it close, but falls to Celtics to open trip. Takeaways from first loss of season

Martin will miss his second straight game when the Heat takes on the Timberwolves on Saturday at Target Center (8 p.m., Bally Sports Sun) on the back end of the Heat’s road back-to-back set.

The Heat also ruled out Jimmy Butler (rest), Haywood Highsmith (left knee sprain), Kevin Love (left shoulder contusion) and Josh Richardson (right heel inflammation), leaving Miami with just 12 available players against Minnesota in its third game in four nights.

“I’m just going to take it day by day,” Martin continued. “If I wake up feeling better and I get treatment and I’m feeling good and I’m ready to go, I’m going to play. When I’m ready to play, I’m going to play. I’m always going to try to play. That’s always the goal every game day is to play.”

Martin, 28, first felt the pain in his left knee during offseason workouts in the weeks leading up to training camp. He was then a limited participant during a few training camp practices, was held out of the Heat’s Red, White and Pink intrasquad scrimmage on Oct. 9 and missed the Heat’s first four preseason games.

But Martin started feeling better after taking that time to rest his knee and took part in the Heat’s fifth and final preseason game.

Martin then played in the Heat’s regular-season opener on Wednesday despite not feeling fully healthy. He hardly looked like himself on either end of the court, finishing with two points on 1-of-7 shooting from the field in 20 minutes off the bench.

“It’s pain tolerance and then just being smart about it,” Martin said of the injury. “We’re on the same page with the medical staff. We understand that it’s early. I played the first game and obviously I know I didn’t play up to par that game, but I kind of wanted to get my feet wet. That was kind of the main indicator from the last game going into [Friday’s game against the Celtics], so I know it would have been tough to try to play [Friday].”

Martin underwent an MRI on his injured knee and it came back clean, ruling out anything more serious that what he’s been diagnosed with.

“We want to make sure that it’s not nagging,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of managing Martin’s injury. “And that’s where he is right now. He’s not moving quite as well as he should be at the beginning of the season. He can will his way through all this stuff. He’s such a competitor. But when you have this many games ahead, I get it. At some point you’re not going to feel like you’re 100 percent. But if it’s affecting your mobility right now, we have to kind of take control of that situation and make sure he’s feeling better, moving better. And we’ll get him there, because he’s definitely made progress.”

Martin said he feels the injury when he runs, jumps and even goes up for three-pointers.

“It’s something that obviously would limit me and what I’m capable of doing,’ Martin said of the injury. “I don’t want it to be one of those things where it leads to one thing and the next thing, you know something else is hurting because I’m compensating. So just trying to be smart about it and making sure I’m at a place to where if I play, I don’t have to worry about multiple other things.”

Martin knows he’s an important part of the Heat’s formula as a key component of its bench rotation. He logged a team-high 218 fourth-quarter minutes during last season’s playoff run and nearly was named the Eastern Conference finals MVP for his breakthrough performance in that series against the Celtics.

Martin, who can become a free agent this upcoming offseason with a $7.1 million player option in his contract for next season, was looking forward to facing the Celtics again on Friday. But his nagging injury changed those plans.

“Especially with a team like this,” Martin said, referring to how hard it was to miss Friday’s loss to the Celtics. “We always have a great rivalry going on. We always have great games in this building. Obviously, the way things ended last season. So this is definitely a game that I’ve had on my list all summer. I’m sure for them, too. You just love to compete against those types of guys and it’s high-level basketball.

“I hate missing that type of game. But it’s big picture and it’s a long season. We’re trying to make sure I can play and stay in as long as possible.”

▪ As for Butler’s absence due to rest on Saturday, the Heat consulted with the league on its plan for this back-to-back set to make sure it is in compliance with the new Player Participation Policy. One of the factors involved was that Butler played in Friday’s nationally televised game against the Celtics.

QUESTIONABLE CALL?

The near back-court violation that instead ended as a foul call on Butler with 47.4 seconds to play was a topic of conversation following the game.

A Kevin Love three-pointer had just pulled the Heat within three points seconds before and it appeared the Heat may have forced a Celtics turnover to take back possession with a chance to tie the score.

As Butler pressured White near the three-point line, Butler appeared to make contact with White’s arm but a foul was not then called. Instead, the foul was called after White dribbled the ball over the half-court line for what looked to be a back-court violation.

Spoelstra challenged the call, but it was ruled unsuccessful. An angry Spoelstra kept pleading his case to the officials as White made both free throws to push the Celtics’ lead to five on the way to ending the Heat’s hopes at completing the comeback win.

“My view is one thing, their explanation is another thing,” Spoelstra said of the sequence of events. “That’s where we are right now. We’ll agree to disagree. I was challenging a foul that was made at half court, not that was made in front of me. Whether that was a foul or not, I don’t know. But they called a foul at half court that was clearly not a foul. And that’s not the same play.”

The NBA’s Last Two Minute report issued Saturday ruled that the officials made the right call on the play, saying: “Replay review of the foul called on Butler (MIA) pursuant to a coach’s challenge was deemed unsuccessful. Butler (MIA) reaches in and initiates contact with White’s (BOS) arm during the drive that causes him to lose control of the ball.”