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"The other injury updates have been pretty much straightforward: Dwyane Wade was waiting out a strained left hamstring, Norris Cole is playing through a dislocated left middle finger, Chris Andersen will be out a while with a sprained right ankle.But then there&#039;s the curious case of Danny Granger, who either is injured, rehabilitating or simply not a part of Erik Spoelstra&#039;s rotation.When it comes to clarity from the Miami Heat coach regarding the swingman signed in the offseason as a free agent, there has been little.Going into Wednesday&#039;s game against the Atlanta Hawks at AmericanAirlines Arena, Granger had been listed as &amp;quot;DNP-Coach&#039;s Decision&amp;quot; the past five. He had played the two games before that, even starting one, but was listed as being sidelined for the season&#039;s first 10 games with a strained left hamstring.&amp;quot;Yeah, he&#039;s healthy. He&#039;s available,&amp;quot; Spoelstra said when recently asked for an update on Granger. &amp;quot;Right now, we&#039;ve had so many guys in and out that we&#039;re just really trying to find some consistency.&amp;quot;But he&#039;s on my mind. It&#039;s still very early. So where we had planned for him in August, he&#039;s way ahead of schedule and that&#039;s the perspective we want to keep.&amp;quot;Granger was coming off a hamstring issue when he was added by the Heat, previously limited with the Indiana Pacers by knee issues.&amp;quot;The plan was build up his body,&amp;quot; Spoelstra said. &amp;quot;That&#039;s what we&#039;re trying to do, getting healthy, feeling better, in better condition than what he&#039;s felt in two years. That&#039;s been the number-one objective. And then, from there, we&#039;ll find a role for him.&amp;quot;In essence, that has made Granger like many Heat early-season rehabilitation projects in recent years, from Mike Miller to Greg Oden.&amp;quot;We&#039;ve been working on his body,&amp;quot; Spoelstra said, &amp;quot;making sure that he feels better than he has the last couple of years. To do that and try to get him ready for games was little bit contradictory early on.&amp;quot;Still, Granger was the only available player not to see action in Monday&#039;s 107-86 loss to the Washington Wizards. Even newcomers Hassan Whiteside saw action in that one.The reality is that just as the Heat only now are working Josh McRoberts into their rotation following offseason toe surgery, the same apparently will be the case for Granger later in the schedule.For his part, Granger has repeatedly has expressed gratitude for being allowed to acclimate at his own schedule, working out extensively before games. From all indications, it is not as if he is in some sort of Michael Beasley deep freeze.&amp;quot;He&#039;s feeling really good about where he is,&amp;quot; Spoelstra said. &amp;quot;We&#039;re feeling really good about him being ahead of schedule.&amp;quot;Quarter poleA 9-8, the Heat are approaching the quarter pole of their 82-game schedule, and that has center Chris Bosh somewhat concerned.&amp;quot;I wouldn&#039;t say it&#039;s early. I wouldn&#039;t say that anymore,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;We&#039;re close to 20 games now, so the first quarter of the season is coming up and we probably have a bad grade right now.&amp;quot;Yet, to guard Dwyane Wade, it also is somewhat early, as the team works in so many new faces.&amp;quot;A lot of guys are still confused with a lot of things we are trying to do at certain times,&amp;quot; he said.Historically badAccording to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Heat were historically bad in Monday&#039;s 107-86 loss in Washington.The Heat became the first NBA team to attempt at least 20 3-pointers in a game and make less than 10 percent of them (2 of 22) while converting at least 60 percent of its two-point shots (31 of 50).That&#039;s 9.1 percent on 3-pointers and 62 percent on two-point shots.Revenge mindedWashington center Marcin Gortat said the 23-point performance by Wizards swingman Rasual Butler Monday against the Heat had to do with more than motivation from being victimized by a James Ennis dunk on opening night.&amp;quot;The guy was drafted by them. They let him go,&amp;quot; Gortat said, with Butler drafted by the Heat in 2002 and then traded by the Heat to New Orleans in 2005. &amp;quot;What other motivation do you need?&amp;quot;iwinderman@tribpub.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat or facebook.com/ira.winderman."
<https://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-heat/sfl-miami-heat-danny-granger-s120214-story.html>