Dion Waiters hopes to return before end of regular season

Miami Heat guard Dion Waiters is having a breakout season, so he hopes to return from an ankle injury quickly.

After a slow start this season, the Miami Heat are 24-12 since Jan. 1 to surge into playoff contention in the Eastern Conference. One of the stars of that run has been shooting guard Dion Waiters, who is averaging career-highs in points (15.8), assists (4.3) and rebounds (3.3) per game over 46 games this season.

But Waiters suffered a bad left ankle injury last Friday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and he missed Sunday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Exactly when (or if) he’ll be able to return is unclear, but Waiters told the Sun-Sentinel his goal is to be back before the end of the regular season

"“That’s the goal. We’ve just got to keep working on it and hope this thing keeps improving every day. I’m young, 25, so my bones should heal kind of fast. Just got to keep working on just having faith and hopefully I wake up and this thing is gone.”"

Waiters also missed three games with sprained left ankle in February, and acknowledged his current injury is worse than that one. During the first half of the season, he also missed 20 games with a groin tear.

After Sunday’s loss to Portland, the Heat are theoretically tied with the Detroit Pistons (34-36) for the eighth seed in the East. But the Pistons have won two of three head-to-head matchups this season, and thus they hold the tie-breaker over Miami. The final regular season matchup between the two teams, March 28 in Detroit, looks sure to be pivotal in the race for the final playoff spot in the East. The Chicago Bulls (33-37) are also in the mix, but with seven losses in their last 10 games they are fading quickly.

Next: 5 first round NBA playoff matchups we'd like to see

Miami has 12 regular season games left, so the quicker Waiters is able to play the better. Games Tuesday night against Phoenix, Thursday night against Toronto or next Sunday against Boston look unlikely for Waiters to be back. But that game in eight days against Detroit looks like a possible target date for his return, whether it’s publicly disclosed or not.