MIAMI — The sense of dread proved all too real Tuesday, with the Miami Heat announcing that guard Dru Smith sustained a season-ending torn left Achilles tendon in Monday night’s victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

Having recently emerged as a prime rotation component in his comeback from his season-ending knee injury a year ago, Smith was helped off the court with 8:18 left in Monday night’s second quarter, a collective shudder enveloping Kaseya Center.

For his coach and teammates, this was more than a player on a two-way contract going down. It was seeing it happen again. Last November, Smith shredded his right knee on a misstep off a ledge on the Cleveland Cavaliers court.

Then came Monday, with Smith still wearing a protective brace on his right knee.

“You don’t want to see anybody get hurt,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But we all have such incredible deep respect for his journey, what he’s had to overcome. I’ve been in the building all those times the last year, when nobody else was here and he was doing all the extensive treatment and rehab around the clock. He just has incredible fortitude. So you end up absolutely rooting for guys like Dru.”

The non-contact injury came with the Heat facing a Sunday deadline to sign another player to a standard contract, required to get back to 14 under standard deals within 14 days of the recent trade of center Thomas Bryant to the Indiana Pacers.

That spot was expected to go to Smith, which still could be the case. Such an elevation would more than double Smith’s salary from his two-way deal.

The loss of Smith further exacerbates the Heat’s lack of depth at point guard. Among outside options are elevating undrafted rookie guard Isaiah Stevens from the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, or outside available free agents such as Dennis Smith Jr. or Elfrid Payton.

For now, according to a source, the Heat later this week will upgrade two-way forward Keshad Johnson to a standard contract and then add another two-way player, likely Stevens. As of now, it appears Dru Smith will remain under Heat two-way contract. Johnson eventually could be flipped back to a Heat two-way deal.

But personnel machinations hardly were on the mind in the wake of Smith, who turns 27 on Dec. 30, going down.

“All we can do is pray for him,” center Bam Adebayo said. “But it’s definitely a gut punch because he’s sitting next to me on the plane and we have conversations a lot. We really talk about basketball and really reflect on just how grateful we are to have the life that we live.

“So to have a guy that’s that pure have an injury, we pray for him and hope the best for him.”

Since going undrafted out of Missouri in 2021, Smith has had several stints with the Heat and the team’s G League affiliate, including a season-ending knee injury in 2022 while with the Skyforce.

Through it all, he earned this season’s two-way deal and persevered to a degree that teammate Jimmy Butler lobbied for Smith’s elevation into the first unit.

Recently, Smith arguably had been at the top of his NBA game.

And then came Monday night.

“I feel like it’s been the last week and a half, two weeks, he’s really been playing well,” guard Tyler Herro said. “But all the work he put in to come back from the knee injury last year and where he was at before tonight, it’s just really unfortunate to see him go down.

“He’s one of my favorite teammates, one of my favorite players to play with. So it’s really heartbreaking. So it’s unfortunate.”

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