How did Heat’s Avery Bradley prepare for his return? And examining rare Bam-Precious minutes
Even though Miami Heat guard Avery Bradley was forced to quarantine and self-isolate for nearly two weeks after testing positive for COVID-19, he remained productive during that time.
There were text conversations with Heat teammates. There were text exchanges with Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. There were film sessions he put himself through to study the Heat’s schemes and upcoming opponents.
“The most you can do is just prepare mentally,” Bradley said in advance of Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers at AmericanAirlines Arena. “Watch film as much as you can, just try to make sure that you’re staying engaged, talking to your teammates so you’re there with them at all time, share your input after games — just making sure that you’re still being a part of the team.
“It’s hard not being able to get into the gym, but I still feel like there’s always ways to get better, and that’s how I use my time. Making sure I watch film not only on us, but on other teams so I can prepare and have my transition be as easy as possible once I came back.”
Bradley made his return in Wednesday’s 109-82 home loss to the Denver Nuggets after missing the previous eight games because of the NBA’s health and safety protocols. He did not play Thursday against the Clippers because of a right knee contusion he sustained early in his return.
Bradley, 30, recorded eight points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting from three-point range, one rebound and two assists in 18 minutes off the bench on Wednesday in his first game since the Heat’s Jan. 9 road win against the Washington Wizards. But there was some rust, as Bradley also finished his first game in more than two weeks with a season-high four turnovers.
“It has been rough trying to get myself back in a groove, trying to get my legs back,” Bradley said following Wednesday’s defeat. “There were times I was extremely gassed, but for me I feel like it’s all effort. I just tried to push through it every single possession I played tonight. I know it’s going to take some time. But for me, I’m just staying confident and playing as hard as I can because I feel like I can make up for problems, mistakes if I play as hard as I can every single possession.”
Bradley cleared the NBA’s health and safety protocols and was able to resume basketball activity late last week, and he had four days of workouts to prepare for Wednesday’s return after two weeks away from the court.
“It has been rough, man,” Bradley said. “I had four days to try to get some work in, get in the gym, get some shots up, but it felt great to be out there with my team and compete with those guys.”
While Bradley returned, Heat star wing Jimmy Butler missed his ninth consecutive game Wednesday because of the league’s health and safety protocols. Butler was also held out of Thursday’s game against the Clippers, with the hope that he’ll be ready to make his return Saturday against the Sacramento Kings.
Butler was a few days behind Bradley when it came to clearing protocols. That led to Bradley returning ahead of Butler, who cleared protocols Monday and watched Wednesday’s loss from the Heat’s bench alongside teammates for the first time since he went out more than two weeks ago.
“That’s the life we’re in right now,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said when asked about the challenge Bradley and Butler face in getting back into game rhythm after two weeks away from the team. “We have to adapt to that. It sucks, but as professionals we have to adapt to that and figure it out. We have to figure out how we can bring Avery along without running his legs thin, or forcing him. It’s the same with Jimmy. We just have to slowly bring them along with us.”
BAM-PRECIOUS MINUTES
In the second quarter of Wednesday’s loss to the Nuggets, Spoelstra played Adebayo and rookie Precious Achiuwa for their first real minutes together. According to NBA tracking stats, Adebayo and Achiuwa had played together in eight games for a total of one minute before Wednesday.
“We have to do whatever we think is necessary at this point,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo and Achiuwa sharing the court. “We are down some guys.”
The result was a net positive during a 27-point loss, with the Heat outscoring the Nuggets 14-13 during the six-minute stretch in the second quarter that Adebayo and Achiuwa played together.
With Adebayo, 23, and Achiuwa, 21, scoring most of their points in the paint, having both on the floor at the same time could make for a challenging offensive fit because of potential spacing issues. But Adebayo said he enjoyed his minutes alongside Achiuwa on Wednesday.
“The only challenge is who’s trying to get to the screen first. I feel like that’s the only challenge,” Adebayo said of sharing the court with Achiuwa. “Once you play alongside each other enough, you start to figure it out. I was happy to get out there with the young fella.
“He’s one of those guys, man, he reminds me so much of myself when I was a rookie. He wants to get out there, he wants to learn and he wants to do everything right. I can vouch for a dude like that. I feel like he’s going to be a great player in this league one of these days. He has got the work ethic for it. I’m proud of the kid. He always impresses me.”
▪ NBA All-Star voting began Thursday at noon on the NBA App, NBA.com and Twitter. The full ballot features room for three frontcourt players and two guards from both the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference.
Voting runs through Feb. 16, with All-Star starters revealed on Feb. 18 and reserves (selected by NBA head coaches) revealed on Feb. 23.
Discussions surrounding a potential All-Star Game amid the COVID-19 pandemic are ongoing.
This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 10:17 AM.
