Warren Sits Out Game With Foot Injury

Two days having his hot streak in the NBA bubble halted by the Miami Heat, former NC State star T.J. Warren was slowed even further by a foot injury that forced him to miss the Indiana Pacers' next-to-last seeding game

Apparently Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat had some help in cooling off T.J. Warren on Monday. 

As it turns out, the former NC State star was suffering from a foot injury.

The condition that helped limit Warren to just 12 points in a loss to the Heat, described as plantar fasciitis in his right foot, kept him out of the Indiana Pacers game against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.

He watched from the bench as his teammates beat the Rockets 108-104 to lock into the fifth seed for the NBA playoffs that begin next week.

"He had a little soreness there," Pacers coach Nate McMillan, who also played for the Wolfpack, said of Warren's issue. "We wanted to give him some rest on that. I will get the medical report on our guys tomorrow, and Friday we'll make a decision on who is playing and how much they are playing." 

McMillan said that Warren has "been experiencing (the problem) really throughout the season and been able to play on it." 

But it may very well have played a role in Warren's 5 of 14 shooting performance against the Heat in his first head-to-head matchup with Butler since an incident in which they were both ejected during a game in January.

Prior Monday, Warren had been averaging 31.0 points in the first five games of the NBA's restart in its Orlando "bubble" -- including a career-high 53-point performance against the Philadelphia 76ers and a 39-point outburst against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.

It is not yet known whether Warren will be available in the Pacers' final regular season game, a rematch with the Heat on Friday.

You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top righthand corner of the page. Also be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter:

Facebook -- ACC Insider

Twitter -- @WolfpackMaven