Injuries have played a large role in Miami’s slow start and it doesn’t appear the injury bug is going to leave this team alone any time soon.

The most notable name on the injury report is Jimmy Butler, who just returned from injury on Dec. 2. It doesn’t appear Butler’s knee injury is causing him issues, but it is clear that the Heat are staying cautious with their franchise player. He is listed as a game-time decision and is a candidate to take the night off for rest.

Joining Butler on the injury report are Victor Oladipo, Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Dewayne Dedmon and Max Strus. That is in addition to Gabe Vincent, who has already been ruled out. Miami’s depth could be heavily depleted for this matchup.

Having that many players sidelined is bad news for any team and will likely lead to very little production, but it is especially bad for the Heat as they struggle with their offensive output while fully healthy.

Through 25 games, the Heat rank 26th in Offensive Rating, scoring 109.1 points per 100 possessions. That is largely due to the fact that Miami is shooting just 33.7% from behind the arc and 44.9% from the floor overall.

Both of those percentages rank toward the bottom of the NBA and in Miami’s past three games, we have seen those percentages fall even further to 32.7% and 43.6%, respectively. The Heat are trending in the wrong direction and without many of their key contributors on the floor, I don’t forecast them getting back on track in this game.

I think the biggest factor in this game is going to be the Miami injuries, which should keep this game rather low scoring.

I doubt all of the names listed above will miss this matchup, but the fact that there are so many names listed is a cause for concern. When you combine that with the fact that L.A. was pushed to the brink in an overtime loss on Wednesday, I think it is likely we see very little offense.