Lowry out again for Heat; Yurtseven returns. And Martin thrives, Trae struggles vs. Heat

Make it 13 missed games in a row for Kyle Lowry.

The Heat point guard, who initially hoped to return last week from knee soreness, was ruled out for Monday’s home game against Atlanta with an injury that has sidelined him for more than a month.

He hasn’t played since Feb. 2, when he shot 1 for 7 on a three-point night against the Knicks.

The Heat has declined to give a timetable or indicate if he will play again this season. Lowry also has declined to comment.

There remains hope that he will play again this season. According to a source, Lowry is not being held out by the team for any nebulous or disciplinary or conditioning reasons. He believes his knee is not healthy enough for him to play effectively.

Meanwhile, the Heat has summoned center Omer Yurtseven back from South Dakota, where he played in two G-League games, and he’s probable for Monday’s Heat-Hawks game.

Yurtseven had 28 points and 17 rebounds in his second G-League assignment on Saturday as he works his way back from October ankle surgery.

Monday is expected to be Yurtseven’s first game on the Heat bench this season, available to play. Whether he gets minutes is another story; it seems likely that Erik Spoelstra will continue to use Cody Zeller at backup center, at least initially, because Zeller has played well.

Besides Lowry, Nikola Jovic also remains out; he is scheduled to begin a G-League assignment as he works his way back from a back injury that has sidelined him since late December.

MARTIN THRIVING

Forward Caleb Martin continues to thrive since moving to the bench; he scored five key points (of his 15) in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 117-109 win against Atlanta.

Martin, who was replaced in the starting lineup by Kevin Love immediately after the All Star break, has averaged 10.7 points as a reserve, compared with 10.1 as a starter, and is shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 45.0 percent from threes in his six games off the bench.

Though his minutes per game have dropped from 30.3 as a starter to 26.4 as a reserve, he played down the stretch in close games against the Knicks on Friday and Hawks on Saturday.

“I love the close games,” Martin said.

Martin started all 49 of his appearances this season before the All-Star break. Last season, he came off the bench in 48 of 60 appearances.

“Since we made the change, he’s been one of the consistent bright spots in our rotation,” Erik Spoelstra said. “He has had an immediate impact with his energy, activity, speed, quickness. That role fits him naturally well, and it’s not an indictment about him as a starter...

“He’s a game changing type of player when you bring him off the bench. He kind of ignites that unit. He’s about all the right things. When he plays well, you have a bunch of guys rooting for him.”

Teammates admire him.

“Caleb is a worker,” Tyler Herro said. “He comes up every night after practice and gets shots up. His role changes, I don’t think it messes with him mentally at all. Obviously, he would love to start [like everyone else]. But he cares about winning more than anyone. He’s someone who will sacrifice his role for the team.”

Martin said the big adjustment to coming off the bench again is “I get more time to stretch. I changed up little things in my pre-game [routine] with shooting, to get more rhythm. The good thing is I get to watch how the game is going before I get in.”

YOUNG HELD IN CHECK

The Heat held Hawks guard Trae Young to 8 points - 19 below his average - on 2 for 13 shooting on Sunday. It was just the 17th time that Young has scored in single digits in 358 career games.

As @RohanNadkarni noted, Young has shot 30.3 percent, with 49 turnovers, in his past eight games vs. the Heat.

In 16 career regular season games against the Heat, Young has averaged 21.2 points (his lowest against any Eastern Conference team) and shot 39.3 percent (his third lowest against any team).

Young averaged just 15.4 points on 32 percent shooting, and 6.2 turnovers per game, in Miami’s five-game first-round win against the Hawks in last year’s playoffs.

Yet Hawks coach Quin Snyder insisted Young “was great” on Saturday, in acknowledgement of his 10 assists and five steals. “He kept competing. He had a few that didn’t go in.”

Of the Heat’s defense on Young, Spoelstra said: “He’s seen all the different coverages. You have to be able to shift in and out of different schemes. That’s been the most consistent part of our team has been our defense, in and out of the halfcourt. We were able, for the most part, to contain them in transition.”

“Just making it tough on him, making him see doubles, trying to make him take difficult shots,” Bam Adebayo said of what the Heat has done defensively against Young. “Gabe [Vincent], Jimmy, Caleb, [Victor Oladipo] have done a tremendous job making his life difficult when he tries to get in his bag.”

▪ In recent days, Jimmy Butler was able to play in both games of a back-to-back set for the second consecutive time, after sitting out one game each time in three previous back-to-back sets this season because of knee discomfort.

Butler played 33 minutes against the Knicks and 34 against the Hawks.

“He’s in a great place physically,” Spoelstra said. “We want to keep him there. The fact he’s been able to play back to backs is a great sign for us.”

▪ The Heat has played very well for six quarters since trailing 71-56 halftime of the Knicks game on Friday. So what happened at halftime on Friday?

“We talked about what we need to do,” Herro said. “We know what we need to do. It’s staying in love with the process of how we got here. I truly believe we’re capable of playing with anybody in the league.”

▪ Saturday was the 19th time that Herro, 23, played at least 38 minutes in a game this season. He played all but 2:30 of the second half.

“I’m young,” Herro said. “I can play 48 if you need me to.”

▪ Monday’s game against the Hawks is very important, because a win would move the seventh-seeded Heat 2 ½ games ahead of the No. 8 Hawks and would give Miami a 3-1 win in the season series.

A Hawks win would pull Atlanta within one half game of Miami and give the teams a split of their season series.

If the Hawks win on Monday and the teams finish the regular season tied, division won/loss percentage would be the next tiebreaker. The Heat has the edge there; Miami is 8-4 against division opponents compared with 5-7 for Atlanta.