More minutes, no problem for Heat’s Bam Adebayo? And Spoelstra on Butler’s impact.
With a short-handed roster and three overtime games during the past two weeks, Heat players have recently been forced to play extra minutes.
Entering Wednesday’s matchup against the 76ers, Jimmy Butler has averaged 41 minutes and Bam Adebayo has averaged 40.1 minutes during the previous five games. Butler, 30, has played big minutes for long stretches before, but this is somewhat new for Adebayo.
Adebayo, 22, averaged 19.8 minutes per game as a rookie and 23.3 minutes per game in his second NBA season. This season, his third in the NBA, he is averaging 34.1 minutes per game.
Of course, most of those extra minutes have come because he’s playing a bigger role. Adebayo entered Wednesday averaging career-highs in points (15.2), rebounds (10.7), assists (4.6), steals (1.4) and blocks (1.3) this season.
“I’m just out there laying it on the line,” Adebayo said following the Heat’s Wednesday morning shootaround session. “You forget about minutes and how much you’re playing and how many games you’re playing just because you’re out there for your teammates and for your brothers. Afterwards, you get ice and you do it again.”
Coach Erik Spoelstra doesn’t view the spike in minutes as an issue Adebayo can’t deal with. But the Heat’s hope is it will get players back from injury when it returns to Miami for a four-game homestand that begins Friday against the Knicks.
“We’re going to get guys back. We’ll be able to manage his minutes,” Spoelstra said. “He’s fully capable of it right now. We have a great opportunity to get some rest and get some guys back right after this game. We play two games in eight or nine days, and we’ll be able to get some rest, be able to get some practice time. Hopefully get somebody back, that will change things considerably. But I’m totally fine with that right now, and so is he. He can handle it. He’s not 43 years old.”
Wednesday marks the ninth consecutive game Heat guard Goran Dragic has missed with a strained right groin and the seventh consecutive game Heat forward Justise Winslow has missed with a strained lower back. Spoelstra said Wednesday morning there was no update regarding their status.
Following the Heat’s matchup against the 76ers, it plays just two games during an eight-day span — Friday against the Knicks and Monday against Jazz.
“You never know, the rotation might change,” Adebayo said of getting teammates back from injury. “But for right now, we’re laying it all out on the line. We’re short-handed, but that doesn’t matter. We’re all we got, we’re all we need.”
Overtime success
The Heat’s defense has struggled in recent games, but not during overtime.
Not only is Miami 5-0 in overtime games this season, but it has limited its opponents to 8-of-43 (18.6 percent) shooting and has outrebounded its opponents by a combined margin of 36-20 in overtime this season.
The Heat has outscored its opponents by a combined score of 64-25 in those five extra periods.
“That’s a mental toughness that this group has developed starting in training camp,” Spoelstra said of the Heat’s overtime success in advance of Wednesday’s matchup against the 76ers. “Our defense has been our better version of itself during those moments, and that’s what I’ve been talking about basically all season long. Can we get to a more consistent level? When we show that type of exceptional level, when you should be most fatigued, it also shows that you can do it at a higher level during the course of the game.
“I think right now we’re the [11th]-ranked defense. But during closing time and overtimes, it’s significantly better. We have some very competitive guys. Then you can’t understate having a go-to guy on the other end like Jimmy that just settles you and gives you a lot of confidence offensively to know that you can bank on your defense, knowing that you have a great player that will help you get a good look on the other end.”
▪ When asked by a Philadelphia-based reporter about what Butler has been like with the Heat, Spoelstra gave a completely tongue-in-cheek response: “He has been a total [expletive]. I can’t stand him.”
Spoelstra went on to say Butler has helped the Heat “quite a bit.”
“There’s a reason why we chased him so hard and backed up the Brinks truck to get a max player,” Spoelstra added. “That’s the idea. We have a guy that we believe can take us to a different level. That’s what he’s doing right now. It’s reflective of our record and the way guys are playing around him and with him.”
▪ Dragic (strained right groin), Winslow (strained lower back), James Johnson (personal reasons) and Dion Waiters (team suspension) were ruled out Wednesday’s matchup against the 76ers.
Johnson is expected to rejoin the Heat for Friday’s home game against the Knicks.
Forward Derrick Jones Jr. is questionable for Wednesday’s game because of a migraine. He missed the team’s morning shootaround session.
This story was originally published December 18, 2019 at 1:56 PM.
