Miami Heat's Dru Smith Ruled Out For Friday's Game Against New York Knicks

Miami Heat guard Dru Smith will not play Friday against the New York Knicks after sustaining a knee injury Wednesday in Cleveland

Miami Heat guard Dru Smith has been ruled out for Friday's game against the New York Knicks because of a knee injury. 

Smith sustained the injury in the first half of Wednesday's victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers. After the game, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra blamed the fall on the construction of the Cavs' arena. The court is elevated from the team benches. Smith fell after contesting a shot near the out of bounds line. 

"It's a dangerous floor," Spoelstra said. "I don't the history of injuries here but we've had a couple near scares in previous years when guys are closing out in that corner. Thankfully, nobody's been injured before but it's an accident waiting to happen. You close out and all of a sudden you're going off a cliff. It's just so dangerous. As soon as he stayed down, we all knew that's probably what happened."

Here's the game preview:

Game time: 7:30 p.m., ET

Where: Madison Square Garden

TV: Bally Sports Sun

Betting line: Heat +3

VITALS: The Heat and Knicks meet for the first of three matchups this season and their first in the NBA In-Season Tournament. Last season, New York won the regular season series, 3-1, but Miami knocked the Knicks out of the playoffs last year in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, 4-2. The Heat are 65-69 all-time versus New York during the regular season, including 36-30 in home games and 29-39 in road games.. For the Heat, Bam Adebayo (hip) is probable and Kevin Love (personal reasons), Tyler Herro (ankle), Jamal Cain ( G League) and RJ Hampton (G League), Cole Swider (Two-Way) and Nikola Jovic (G League) are out. For the Knicks, Charlie Brown Jr., (G League), Dylan Windler ( G League), Jacob Toppin (G League) are out, Evan Fournier (ankle) is questionable.

PROJECTED STARTERS

HEAT

G Duncan Robinson

G Kyle Lowry

C Thomas Bryant

F Haywood Highsmith

F Jimmy Butler

KNICKS

F R.J. Barrett

F Julius Randle

C Mitchell Robinson

G Jalen Brunson

G Donte Divincenzo

QUOTABLE

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra on Bam Adebayo's status: "It's not a lingering thing, he's padded. He just took a hard fall in the Chicago game in the same exact spot that he did earlier in the season when he had to miss a game. He was able to do some things in shootaround but not jump."

Kevin Love Rejoins Miami Heat For Friday's Game Against New York Knicks

Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat, a Fan Nation channel for Sports Illustrated. He has covered the NBA since 2010.

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