Although the Miami Heat could breathe a sigh of relief when the MRI on Derrick Jones Jr.’s right knee Monday revealed a pair of bone bruises, the small forward’s reaction was a bit more complex. Jones, in the midst of a breakout season, just knew the knee hurt: He hadn’t set an expectation one way or the other for what the diagnosis might read.
“I didn’t know, honestly,” Jones said Wednesday, speaking publicly for the first time since suffering the injury Sunday in a 106-97 win against the New York Knicks. “I didn’t want to get too ahead of myself thinking and just getting in my head, and losing my mind that way, so I just tried to keep a level head and the X-rays came back negative.