Heat’s Markieff Morris Out After Suffering Whiplash

Heat power forward Markieff Morris will miss Wednesday’s road game vs. the Lakers with whiplash, the team announced.

Morris suffered the injury after being shoved to the floor by Nuggets center Nikola Jokic during Miami’s loss in Denver on Monday. Jokic was suspended one game for the incident, while Morris was fined $50,000 after being assessed a Flagrant 2 foul for a mild shoulder check of Jokic at midcourt. (Full post.)

The Heat (7-3) are tied atop the Eastern Conference standings, while the Lakers (6-5) sit in the middle of the pack in the West.

Morris, 32, is 6-foot-9 and spent all of last season with the Lakers after appearing in 14 games with them in 2019-20, when they won the title inside the Orlando bubble.

He is averaging 7.7 points and a career-low 2.8 rebounds in 10 games with the Heat.