When Caleb Martin relocated to the Miami Heat in the offseason, he did not expect to also relocate to the injury report. And yet, even Tuesday, there he was again, listed as questionable against his former team, the Charlotte Hornets, due to what was listed as a calf contusion.

Since the start of February, Martin has missed five games due to Achilles soreness, then three games due to a hyperextended knee, and three games last week with the calf contusion, before making it back for Sunday night’s victory over the Toronto Raptors.

Prior to missing his first game with the Achilles issue on Feb. 3, Martin had not missed time due to injury during his Heat tenure, the energetic forward rewarded along the way with a conversion of his two-way contract to a standard deal. “It’s definitely frustrating,” Martin told the Sun Sentinel of his nagging injuries. “Obviously, I want to play every single game. I want to play 82 if I can. That’s just part of the game, though.

“I just think the way I play, little stuff like that happens. They’re just little nagging ones. You gets bumps, some bruises. Some things happen just because that’s just the way I play. Luckily, that’s all it is.”

And yet the timing of this latest calf issue comes at a time when the Heat are attempting to stabilize their rotation in advance of the playoffs.

Sunday, there was a starting role in Toronto, which was encouraging. But that also was with four rotation players — Jimmy Butler, P.J. Tucker, Dewayne Dedmon and Gabe Vincent — given that night off.

“You always feel like as a player you want to be part of the group that’s rolling,” Martin said of securing a rotation role. “But that’s just the thing about our group. We’ve got a lot of guys that can make it work, no matter who’s in, no matter’s who’s out. I don’t think that takes away from the guys who are out.

“And, obviously, being healthy is the most important thing getting to this part of the year. So, like I said, that’s my role and it fluctuates. So if they’re rolling without me and they don’t need me in there, then I’ve got to support from the sideline, then that’s how it’s going. I don’t care what I got to do, as long as we’re winning.”

Martin will become a restricted free agent July 1.

Rotation 2.0

The Hornets arrived to FTX Arena without a player on their injury report, with coach James Borrego saying he will attempt to do this final week of the regular season what Heat coach Erik Spoelstra did last week, in terms of stabilizing his postseason rotation.

The Hornets are locked into the NBA play-in round, which could be as short as a single game.

“I think going into this final week, giving the guys some clarity on roles and rotations will help them play at a higher level and just bring overall clarity to the group,” Borrego said.

“We have the depth to really make a run here. Now it’s just my job to bring some clarity to the rotation.”

Still salty?

Borrego circled around directly addressing the teams’ previous meeting, a Feb. 17 double-overtime loss to the Heat in Charlotte, when an officiating procedural snafu left a Kyle Lowry conversion in the first overtime incorrectly credited as a 3-pointer.

“I thought we deserved to win that last game against Miami,” Borrego said. “There’s a number of factors I won’t get into right now. My blood’s in a good place right now, so I’m just going to leave it there.”

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