Heat’s Duncan Robinson could return Wednesday. And the area where Strus leads the team

Heat wing Duncan Robinson, who has been sidelined since Jan. 4 because of surgery on the middle finger of his shooting hand, might return for Wednesday’s game at Brooklyn.

Robinson traveled with the team to New York on Wednesday and is listed as questionable for the Heat’s final game before the All-Star break.

In the second year of a five-year, $90 million contract, Robinson has missed 20 games in a row after sustaining the injury when his finger got caught in a teammate’s jersey during a shootaround.

Robinson has made 28 appearances this season, all off the bench, and is averaging 6.9 points while shooting 36.8 percent from the field and 33.1 percent on three-pointers, down from his 44.6, 40.8 and 37.2 percent shooting on threes the previous three seasons.

Having lost his starting job in late March of the 2021-22 season, Robinson’s playing time had been uneven this season. He’s averaging 17.9 minutes in games he plays this season, compared with 25.9 last season.

There could be an opportunity for playing time on Wednesday, with Tyler Herro (knee contusion) missing a second game in a row, Kyle Lowry (knee soreness) skipping a sixth game in a row and Victor Oladipo (sprained ankle) sidelined a seventh game in a row. None of them traveled to Brooklyn.

Omer Yurtseven (ankle) and Nikola Jovic (back) also were ruled out for Wednesday.

STRUS STEADINESS

During a Heat season when injuries have been a perpetual problem - when Erik Spoelstra seemingly doesn’t know who will be ambulatory from one night to the next - there’s something to be said for availability.

And in that regard, nobody has been more reliable than Max Strus. The Heat played 58 games before the All Star break, and Strus appeared in 56 of them.

Strus and Bam Adebayo are the Heat’s only players who appeared in at least 50 during a season when the Heat ranks second in the league in games missed due to injury.

“The best ability is availability,” Strus said. “I try to play through whatever I can.”

The Heat received calls about Strus before the Feb. 9 trade deadline, with Minnesota among the teams that reportedly tried to acquire him. But with its bench already depleted by injuries, the Heat wasn’t interested in trading a versatile player who has started games at both forward positions and shooting guard.

Told before the season that he would be coming off the bench after starting in last year’s playoffs, Strus has ended up starting 26 games, nearly half of his appearances.

“The most challenging part is trying to figure out what it’s going to be day to day,” he said. “Just trying to play each role that I have on a given day to the best that I can. Starting, not starting doesn’t matter.

“I just try to do whatever I can in the game to be in at the end of the game. Just try to help in any way possible to impact winning and give good minutes and hopefully be in at the end of the game.”

He said going back and forth - from the bench to the starting lineup to the bench again - hasn’t been particularly burdensome. With Herro out, Strus started on Monday against Denver and likely will on Wednesday against Brooklyn.

“You’ve just got to prepare yourself for whatever it’s going to be that day,” he said. “Just going into the game, knowing whether it’s going to be starting or coming off the bench, just got to prepare myself for being in the right mindset for either one.”

Though his three-point percentage has dropped from 41.0 last season to 34.0 this season, there have been improvements in other parts of his game. His rebounding is up, from 3.0 to 3.6. So are his assists, from 1.4 to 2.2.

Among Heat small forwards and shooting guards, only Oladipo has allowed a lower shooting percentage against the player he’s guarding.

His biggest growth has been “probably my decision making. Being able to get in the paint, being able to make plays for other people. Finish at the rim, that’s really where I’ve taken strides.”

For Strus, the drop in shooting percentage has been puzzling, because he said his mechanics are not only sound, “but even better [than last year], I think. They feel great” when the shot is released.

Spoelstra said: “When we find Max in rhythm, when he’s open and not having close outs so fast where he has to rush it, he’s a great shooter. The numbers still support that.

“He’s super dynamic off the bench. He’s ignitable, but he also is a very good basketball player. It’s not just the shooting. He does a lot of other things.”

Strus, who’s averaging 12.5 points, occasionally thinks about his impending unrestricted free agency, but said that doesn’t create added pressure.

“It’s easy to have on your mind,” he said. “It wouldn’t be human to not think about it. it’s always there. I wouldn’t say it’s added pressure on anything like that. But it’s there, a presence, you have to deal with it.”