Heat’s Duncan Robinson again sidelined by back injury. Also, Terry Rozier out vs. Hawks

Life without Duncan Robinson will resume for the Miami Heat on Tuesday against Atlanta Hawks.

After missing five straight games late last month with a back injury listed as left facet syndrome, the back issue will again force Robinson to miss time. He has been ruled out for Tuesday’s matchup against the Hawks and his status for the rest of the regular season and postseason is now up in the air.

“I’m not entirely sure,” Robinson said Tuesday after the Heat’s morning shootaround in Atlanta when asked when he’ll be back. “I’m trying to just take it day by day right now and keep an open mind to just how I feel and everything. But the most important thing is just trying to get to a point where I can be available to help us in any capacity, whatever that looks like going forward.”

Robinson, 29, returned on March 31 after initially missing five games because of the back injury. But Robinson’s production plummeted after making his return.

In five games since coming back on March 31, Robinson averaged just 4.8 points and one assist per game while shooting 28.6 percent from the field and 6 of 26 (23.1 percent) from three-point range.

“I just wanted to be back out there and be available in some capacity,” Robinson said of the decision to return from the back injury following his initial five-game absence. “Obviously, just wasn’t able to fully feel like myself, to be myself. And that kind of also exacerbated it a little bit, which we kind of knew going in was a potential risk, but wanted to at least go down swinging to some extent. But now, unfortunately, not necessarily back to ground zero with it, but just got to take a step back and kind of calm it down again.”

Robinson was especially quiet in Sunday’s loss to the Indiana Pacers, finishing scoreless and missing all four of his three-point attempts in 12 minutes of action. He played just 4:30 in the second half.

“You could see the other night, in particular in Indiana, he just did not have the mobility that you’re accustomed to seeing,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra added. “So we’ll re-calibrate and see how he feels day to day.”

Before being sidelined by the back injury, Robinson averaged 13.5 points and three assists per game while shooting 45.7 percent from the field and 40.5 percent on 7.1 three-point attempts per game through March 18. Among the 28 players around the league who took at least seven threes per game this season through that date, Robinson held the NBA’s third-best three-point percentage at that time only behind Dallas’ Kyrie Irving and New Orleans’ CJ McCollum.

But Robinson’s points, assists, three-point attempts and three-point efficiency have all gone down since initially returning from the back issue.

“I wasn’t able to feel like myself,” said Robinson, who has started in 17 straight appearances. “And obviously I’m not the most athletic player out there, so I need ... the majority of my ability to be able to move and be explosive within my capabilities and was not able to do that. I think that was probably apparent to anybody that was watching the game.”

As far as treatment, Robinson said the Heat has “utilized every treatment course that there is to utilize and right now we’re kind of back to the drawing board on how we can approach it.”

Tuesday marks the 11th game that Robinson has missed this season. He sat out two games in November because of a sprained right thumb, three games in late January and early February while in concussion protocol and now a total of six games because of this ongoing back issue.

With less than a week left in the regular season, Robinson doesn’t have much time to recover if he’s going to return before the postseason. Following Tuesday’s game in Atlanta, the Heat has just three games left on its regular-season schedule.

The Heat will return to Miami to complete its final back-to-back set on Wednesday against the Dallas Mavericks at Kaseya Center (7:30 p.m., Bally Sports Sun and ESPN) before wrapping up the regular season with back-to-back home games against the Toronto Raptors on Friday and Sunday.

If the Heat needs to take part in the play-in tournament, which now appears likely, the Heat would then play Tuesday in the first play-in tournament game for the Eastern Conference’s No. 7 seed. The NBA playoffs begin on April 20.

“Anything is possible,” Robinson said when asked if he’ll return before Sunday’s regular-season finale. “Like I said, I’m doing everything I can in the 24 hours every day to just to try to be available. I don’t have a definitive answer for you in terms of that. I’m trying to stay optimistic, but we’ll see what it feels like.”

ROZIER UPDATE

In addition to missing Robinson, the Heat is without a second regular starter against the Hawks on Tuesday. That’s because starting guard Terry Rozier will miss the game because of neck spasms.

Rozier, who played through neck stiffness but was clearly limited in Sunday’s loss to the Pacers, was initially listed as questionable for the Heat’s game in Atlanta prior to being ruled out about an hour before tip-off. He did not take part in Tuesday’s morning shootaround.

“It’s a game-time decision, just trying to get right,” Rozier said after sitting out shootaround before eventually being ruled out. “They’ve been trying to get me right these last couple days. I’m feeling a little better. So just try to make my decision at game time and do whatever I can until then.”

Rozier, 30, expressed regret after Sunday’s loss for playing through the pain against the Pacers because “I felt like I hurt the team.” He was limited to just four points on 2-of-7 shooting from the field on Sunday.

“It’s a little bit of both,” Rozier said of the balance between trying to play through injury and knowing when it’s time to sit out. “You don’t want to be too selfish. Obviously, I’m feeling a little better. But I still feel kind of limited and I don’t want to get out there and just hurt the guys. That’s the main thing. But I’m always a guy that if I can play, I’m going to play.”

The Heat is without Robinson, Rozier and Josh Richardson (right shoulder surgery) against the Hawks.

The Hawks ruled out Saddiq Bey (left knee torn ACL), AJ Griffin (right ankle sprain), Seth Lundy (left ankle soreness), Onyeka Okongwu (left big toe sprain) and Trae Young (left fifth finger torn ligament) for Tuesday’s game against the Heat.