Heat Fined $25K for Violating NBA Injury Reporting Rules After Resting Players

The NBA announced it fined the Miami Heat $25,000 for breaking league rules.

Miami was punished "for violating league injury reporting rules. The Heat failed to disclose an accurate game availability status for several players prior to its game vs. Oklahoma City on Dec. 14 at Paycom Center."

Despite the fine, Miami won Wednesday's contest against the Thunder thanks to Tyler Herro's heroics.

He drilled the go-ahead jumper with five seconds remaining of the 110-108 win and finished with 35 points behind a blistering 9-of-17 shooting from deep. Miami hit 24 three-pointers as a team, which proved to be the difference.

Herro was one of six players on the Heat to score in double figures, and Bam Adebayo posted a double-double of 15 points and 13 boards.

Miami didn't have Jimmy Butler or Gabe Vincent in the win.

The Heat have won three in a row after an abysmal 12-15 start to the season, which has propelled them into eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings. They are also closing the gap on some of the top contenders and are just 3.5 games behind the third-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers.

Miami is surely in NBA-Finals-or-bust mode after reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in two of the last three seasons. It reached the 2020 NBA Finals inside the Walt Disney World Resort bubble, although it fell short against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Next up for the Heat is a Saturday showdown with the San Antonio Spurs.