The Dion Waiters experience returned for one night. Any chance it sticks around in Miami?
It was the sort of sequence which elicited laughter as much as it did cheers. The Miami Heat trailed the Los Angeles Clippers 118-112 in the final minute Friday at AmericanAirlines Arena and Dion Waiters, playing for the first time this season after three suspensions, found himself matched up against Lou Williams. The guard had space in the midrange and pulled up from his sweet spot. Waiters swatted it away.
The ball bounced right back to Williams as he backpedaled to the three-point line for a desperation shot. Waiters blocked it again and raced down the court in the opposite direction. With 34.2 seconds left, the once-ostracized wing drilled a three-pointers to cut the Clippers’ lead to 118-115. After three suspensions in the first half of the season, Waiters was tantalizingly close to playing the hero for the Heat with Jimmy Butler, Kendrick Nunn and Goran Dragic all sidelined.
“He’s got big cajones, man, and you can definitely see it in his swagger,” star post player Bam Adebayo said, with the Heat now idle until Monday’s home matchup against the Orlando Magic. “That’s what Dion’s all about: making the big shots, big plays and he’s built for those moments.”
Four straight free throws by All-Star wing Kawhi Leonard in the final 20 seconds sealed a 122-117 win for the Clippers, but Miami’s locker room couldn’t help but be excited about what Waiters had nearly managed to do against a title contender when his team most needed him. Nunn, the Heat’s Rookie of the Year-contending guard, was out because of left Achilles tendon soreness. Dragic, Nunn’s backup and one of the top bench playres in the NBA, was out because of left calf soreness. Butler, who was listed as questionable with right knee soreness coming into the game, went down with a right ankle sprain in the fourth quarter. Miami (31-14) had to roll out a makeshift crunch-time lineup against one of the best team’s in the league and Waiters was an unlikely centerpiece.
He delivered the full Waiters experience. He bricked a three-pointer on his first touch in the first quarter and it didn’t deter him at all. The 28-year-old finished went 6 of 11 from the field and 4 of 9 from three-point range to score 14 points, with four rebounds and one assist, in just 18 minutes. He played the second fewest minutes on the team and took the third most shots. He airballed nearly as many of his threes — three — as he made.
Yet his effectiveness was still undeniable. With Butler out in the closing minutes, coach Erik Spoelstra gave Waiters the assignment of guarding Leonard and the All-Star wing missed three of his last four shots before hitting a dagger three in Waiters’ face to put Los Angeles ahead 118-110 with 1:06 left. In moments, he looked something like the player who averaged 15.8 and 4.3 assists per game for the Heat in the 2016-17 season to earn a four-year, $52-million contract from Miami.
“Dion had some good, competitive possessions on Leonard. Obviously, that block that led to the three was a great play,” Spoelstra said Friday. “When you get the game in that type of context, he’s fearless, he wants those moments. We have several of those kind of guys.”
To even get on the court Friday, Waiters had to crawl his way out of the world’s largest doghouse. His tumultuous season began with a one-game suspension for the Heat’s opener because of “unprofessional conduct.” He complained on the bench in the Heat’s preseason finale and refused a mandatory weigh-in.
A few weeks later, Waiters still hadn’t played in a game and he was suspended again, this time because, at least in large part, because of a medical incident on a team flight from Phoenix to Los Angeles. It was reported the incident was because Waiters ingested a THC-infused gummy.
He apologized to fans when he returned from this suspension, but it wasn’t the end of his troubles. Miami hit him with one last six-game suspension for a variety of issues last month, including Waiters posting video on Instagram of himself on a boat when he told the team he was unable to practice or play because of an illness.
While he was out of the lineup because of his suspensions, the Heat built the Eastern Conference’s second best record largely on the strength of a massive infusion of backcourt talent. Butler, Nunn and Tyler Herro all weren’t on the team last season. Swingman Duncan Robinson was seldom used and Dragic was oft-injured. They’ve all played a part in squeezing Waiters out of the rotation to the point where he needed two new injuries — plus a long-term back injury for point forward Justise Winslow — to just be the last player off the bench for Miami.
Spoelstra said he FaceTimed his maligned wing earlier Friday to tell Waiters he would be playing. Waiters made a rare appearance on the court for pregame warm-ups and checked in with 1:38 left in the first quarter.
“He definitely has been putting the work in behind the scenes. He has done his best to be a true professional,” sharpshooting post player Meyers Leonard said. “Had K-Nunn and Goran not been out, I don’t know if Dion comes in, but that’s part of being in the NBA. People get hurt, that’s when people get opportunities. People don’t play well and that’s when people get opportunities.”
Waiters declined to comment after the game and left before reporters entered the locker room. He’s expected to speak after practice Sunday at the AAA.
Whenever the Heat returns to full strength, Waiters’ fleeting spot in the rotation might vanish. For one night, he provided at least one final reminder of the way he could electrify Miami.
“Scorers score and Dion does that really well, but obviously he stayed ready, he’s been ready,” post player Kelly Olynyk said. “He has that mentality where he’s going go out and play his game, and shoot the ball and score.”
This story was originally published January 25, 2020 at 8:00 AM.
