The Miami Heat travel to face the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night in what will be an elimination game for both teams.
The winner of the contest advances out of the Play-In Tournament and into the NBA playoffs as the No. 8 seed to face the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference’s side of the bracket.
Heat Nation learned on Friday morning that the group would be without the services of five-time All-Star big man Kevin Love, who is taking some time away from the team due to a family matter.
“Kevin Love has left the Heat amid ongoing family reasons,” Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel reported.
While the 36-year-old isn’t the player he used to be and has averaged a career-low 10.9 minutes per game across just 23 contests (nine starts) during the 2024-25 campaign, Love still provides a positive, veteran presence on Miami’s bench. The former UCLA star is also a former NBA champion and has played in 88 career postseason tilts, including 25 in South Beach over the past two seasons.
Love’s Court Time Continues to Decrease, Could be in Final Playing Days
Love hasn’t played since March 7 and even if the Heat advance to take on the Cavaliers, there’s no telling whether the former No. 5 overall pick will return for that series.
After spending the first six years of his career with the Minnesota Timberwolves and earning his first three All-Star honors, Love suited up in Cleveland for eight-plus seasons starting in 2014, until he was waived in February 2023 and signed with Miami two days later. Love joined Kyrie Irving and LeBron James to form a “Big Three” with the Cavaliers and propel them to their first championship in franchise history in 2016.
The Cavaliers have announced that they will retire Love’s No. 0 jersey when he ends his career. The two-time All-NBA forward is signed with the Heat through the 2025-26 season, before he’s slated to hit unrestricted free agency.
Heat Get Potentially Good News on Other Forward
While Love will be unavailable for head coach Erik Spoelstra’s crew, the team did get some possibly good news regarding another forward — Nikola Jovic.
“Erik Spoelstra says that Nikola Jovic is getting close to a return but it’s unclear if he will be cleared to play tonight in the 8th seed game against the Hawks,” Jared Weiss of The Athletic posted on Bluesky. “Spo said Jovic will suit up regardless and joked he might even get used as an inbounder.
The 21-year-old hasn’t played since Feb. 23 due to a fractured right hand but was upgraded to probable on Friday.
Jovic appeared in 46 regular season games (missing the last 28) and finished the regular season with a career-high 10.7 points per tilt and career-best 45.6% field goal percentage, along with 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per contest.
