The Miami Heat has ‘the band back together’ as it prepares for back-to-back home games
Justise Winslow was shooting stand-up three-pointers during the brief portion of practice the media could see on Thursday.
Dion Waiters was a “full scale” participant after serving his latest suspension of the season. Goran Dragic has played in the last two games after sitting out for nine consecutive contests. James Johnson is back after missing the last road trip due to personal reasons.
“Finally we’re getting the band back together,” Dragic said. “Just in general, I don’t know when was the last time we practiced with the whole team. It’s good.”
Especially with the Heat’s next test.
The Heat, 22-8 on the season and an NBA-best 13-1 at home, hosts the Indiana Pacers on Friday and the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday for the first of four back-to-back sets at AmericanAirlines Arena this season — something the Heat had done just three times combined over the past two seasons and never in the five seasons before that.
Heading into Thursday, the Heat, 76ers (23-10) and Pacers (21-10) are third, fourth and tied for fifth respectively in the Eastern Conference standings with just a one-and-a-half-game difference separating third from sixth.
“We’re not going to obsess about different games and say one game is more meaningful than the other,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, “but we also want our guys to be human and enjoy the competitive nature of the Eastern Conference this year and embrace it. The first step to doing that is to acknowledge that we’re playing two really good teams right there in the standings. That makes it fun. I think if you discredit that, you try to deflect it, say it doesn’t have meaning, I don’t know if that’s authentic and you’re not really embracing the competition.”
Having everyone participate in practice helps. Winslow, who will miss his 10th consecutive game with a bone bruise in his lower back, was the only Heat player who wasn’t a full participant on Thursday.
He was active but did not play in Miami’s 107-104 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday. Winslow also missed nine games with a concussion and two with lower back stiffness earlier this season.
“He’s more active behind the scenes and in the training room and the weight room,” Spoelstra said.
In the 10 games (5 starts) that he has played, Winslow is averaging 12.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists in 33.7 minutes.
“He can get everybody set in offense. He can defend multiple positions. He’s that guy who maybe statistically you can’t see, but he can bring a lot to this team,” Dragic said. “We really need him. He’s a leader. He’s a vocal guy. We can’t wait to get him back.”
The Heat is no stranger to playing with a short bench. Spoelstra generally has a group of nine players in his rotation on game day, but Miami has had its share of games where it had as few as six active.
The Heat is hoping those type of games are in the past.
“We need bodies,” center Bam Adebayo said. “You really can’t depend on six, seven guys all year. We need bodies to come in and participate and be part of the team. Just go out there and lay it all on the line. There’s strength in numbers. I feel like having everybody back is a good thing for us.”
.JPG)