Justise Winslow has now been out for 16 straight games due to a sore left wrist.

The Miami Heat believe a month of healing, rehabbing and restrengthening is better than surgery.

“I think right now all of our hopes are that he won’t need it,” Erik Spoelstra replied when asked if Winslow may need surgery at the end of the season. “That's why we went through extensive treatment and rest. And right now it looks like we won't need to go that route.

“It's actually gotten significantly better. It was a sprain. He continued to play with it, continued to reaggravate it and then we shut him down we started the process of healing it and then rehabbing it and then re-strengthening it. He’s getting better. He’s doing more court work each day. I would say probably now is when you're starting to say he’s probably getting pretty close to full contact work on the court." 

Winslow still hasn't participated in a full 5-on-5 practice and has been wearing a brace for several weeks.

“That's just to stabilize it,” Spoelstra said. “Anybody that’s had wrist issues, you have to wear a brace when you’re not active. And it helps. Any little bit helps. [For Winslow] that’s more precautionary. He doesn't necessarily need it. It’s already starting to feel a lot better.”