Heat's Luol Deng: Will not return Wednesday

Deng won't return to Wednesday's Game 5 tilt with the Raptors after suffering a left wrist injury.

Analysis:

Deng exited with the injury near the end of the third quarter and underwent X-rays on the wrist in the locker room, which came back inconclusive. He was struggling prior to his departure and will finish the night with four points (0-8 FG, 0-1 3Pt, 4-4 FT), six rebounds and one steal across 24 minutes, marking the third straight game in the series he's failed to reach double figures in the scoring column. The Heat will likely have a better idea on the extent of his injury after checking him out Thursday, but with Hassan Whiteside (knee) seemingly unlikely to return this series and Chris Bosh (calf) likely out for the postseason, the Heat could be in trouble in Friday's Game 6 if Deng is ultimately sidelined. A Deng absence would likely force coach Erik Spoelstra to go with an extremely undersized lineup that would rely more heavily on bench players like Josh McRoberts, Justise Winslow, Josh Richardson, and Amar'e Stoudemire to take on more minutes than desired.