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The Miami Heat will be without Terry Rozier for Wednesday’s Play-In game at the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Miami Heat will be shorthanded tomorrow when they take the floor at the Wells Fargo Center to take on the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Play-In Tournament.

The Heat announced on Tuesday afternoon that Terry Rozier will be out for the matchup with a neck injury.

#MIAvsPHI INJURY UPDATE: Duncan Robinson (facet) is listed as probable to play in tomorrow night’s game vs the Sixers.

Terry Rozier (neck) has been ruled out.
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) April 16, 2024

Rozier missed the final four games of the regular season due to neck spasms, has yet to return to practice and reportedly did not travel with the team to Philadelphia.

It is a huge break for the Sixers, and that’s not overstating things. Rozier has become a staple of the Heat offense since being traded from the Charlotte Hornets in late January. Since his arrival, he’s averaged 18.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists and in 21 games for Miami (and that’s not even mentioning his 1.1 steals per game on defense).

Rozier was in the Heat’s lineup against the Sixers twice this season, on March 18 and again on April 4. Both were single-digit victories for Philadelphia, but that doesn’t mean Rozier wasn’t a factor in both of those matchups. In fact, he topped the box score for the Heat in both, scoring 20 points in the March meeting and 22 in the April contest. He is always a huge burden on the Sixers’ defense and having him not suit up takes some of the pressure off not only whoever was going to be slated to cover him, but the Sixers in general.

The Heat also listed Duncan Robinson, who also missed the last four regular season games due to injury, as probable for the Sixers’ matchup. Robinson has been dealing with a back issue.

The Sixers have yet to make any injury report information available for the contest as of Tuesday afternoon. Head coach Nick Nurse casted serious doubt on De’Anthony Melton being able to play Wednesday when he spoke postgame this past Sunday. Joel Embiid and KJ Martin, who also missed the Sixers’ win over Brooklyn, were able to participate in practice Monday.

“He was good,” Nurse told reporters Monday about Embiid. “He was in good spirits. He was highly engaged. A lot of things we were doing were super game plan-specific. He was locked in.”

This is the seventh vs. eighth seed matchup in the Play-In, meaning it’s win and you’re in the playoffs (the actual playoffs). The Sixers, as the seventh seed, earned the right to host the eighth-seeded Heat. The winner on Wednesday will take on the New York Knicks (second-seeded in the Eastern Conference) in the first round of the playoffs. The loser will be back in action on Friday for a winner-takes-all game against the winner of the ninth vs. tenth seed East matchup (Atlanta Hawks vs. Chicago Bulls) in the Play-In.

The Sixers and Heat will tip off in South Philadelphia on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. ET.