Cavs’ Dean Wade ruled out after landing on ball boy in warmups

CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers were already a little banged up. Then came one more twist. And this one no one saw coming.

Forward Dean Wade went down during pregame warmups ahead of Wednesday’s matchup with the Heat. Not during the game. Not even during shootaround. Warmups.

Wade appeared to land on a ball boy’s foot after going through a routine layup, according to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor. He immediately grabbed at his ankle and limped off. You could tell right away this wasn’t nothing.

Wade spent the remainder of pregame in the trainer’s room getting checked out. Per Fedor, the Cavs are holding him him out as a precaution. Officially, he was added late to the injury report with a “questionable” tag. The early diagnosis is an ankle sprain.

So yes, the list grows.

Cleveland was already set to be without Jarrett Allen due to knee tendonitis, Max Strus for foot injury management, Jaylon Tyson with a toe bone bruise and Craig Porter Jr. because of a groin issue. (Larry Nance Jr., who had been dealing with an illness, is good to go.)

As for Wade, he has quietly been part of the rotation all season. In 57 games and 36 starts, he is averaging 5.8 points and 4.2 rebounds.

Not flashy numbers. But on a night like this, every available body matters. Especially when another one goes down before the game even tips.