What does Heat need more of? ‘Time together.’ But now Goran Dragic out with sprained ankle
The results were not what the Miami Heat hoped for, but coach Erik Spoelstra believes the team’s six-game homestand was still a productive one.
“Since we’ve come back home, actually I’ve seen a lot of improvement,” Spoelstra said following the Heat’s 27-point win over the Washington Wizards on Friday to close the homestand at 2-4. “That’s why we just have to forge ahead one day at a time. We have made improvement. The thing we need more than anything, we need time together. That’s what that home stretch was. The first time in a long time where we’ve all been in the same meeting rooms, film rooms, practice rooms, shootaround rooms, walkthrough rooms. All of that, it’s needed.”
During the Heat’s six-game stretch at AmericanAirlines Arena:
▪ Guard Avery Bradley returned from an eight-game absence following a COVID-19 diagnosis and then went out again for two games because of a right knee contusion. After returning from the knee injury, he strained his calf in Wednesday’s loss to the Wizards and is expected to miss three to four weeks.
▪ Wing Jimmy Butler returned from a 10-game absence stemming from the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
▪ Guard Goran Dragic returned after missing three games because of a strained left groin. But Dragic will miss Sundays 1 p.m. game against the New York Knicks (Fox Sports Sun) at Madison Square Garden because of a sprained left ankle he sustained during Friday’s victory.
▪ Guard Tyler Herro returned after missing seven straight games with neck spasms.
▪ Forward Andre Iguodala returned from a one-game absence because of neck spasms.
The homestand also included two losses to teams with losing records, the Charlotte Hornets and Wizards, and a loss to a short-handed Los Angeles Clippers squad that was without its superstar duo of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. After representing the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals last season, the Heat (8-14) entered Saturday with the third-worst record in the East and fourth-worst record in the NBA.
“There’s a lot of noise out there,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat traveling Saturday for Sunday’s afternoon game against the Knicks. “We’re seeing improvement. We just need time. Our core guys have not been on the court together a lot this season. You’re trying to build habits and play the right way.”
Spoelstra isn’t wrong, with the Heat hit hard by COVID-19 protocol and injury issues in the first six weeks of the season.
As a result, Miami used its league-leading 15th different starting lineup of the season in the 22nd game of the season on Friday. The Heat has also started a league-high 14 different players this season.
The Heat is still working to find the right lineup and rotation combinations. Guard Kendrick Nunn, who has been moved in and out of the rotation multiple times already this season, scored a team-high 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting in Friday’s win over the Wizards after three consecutive DNP-CDs (did not play, coach’s decision).
“We have guys in and out and then COVID protocols and we missed some guys,” Dragic said. “There’s a lot of moving parts and we need time to adjust to different lineups. But [Friday], we feel like we played to our strengths.”
Dragic moved into the starting lineup on Friday, and Herro played off the bench for the first time this season. The starting lineup of Dragic, Duncan Robinson, Butler, Kelly Olynyk and Bam Adebayo was effective, finishing the Heat’s win over the Wizards with a plus/minus of plus-11 in 12 minutes together.
Before Friday’s game, the Heat’s core trio of Adebayo, Butler and Dragic had logged just 46 minutes together over seven this season. But they played 20 minutes together in Friday’s contest alone, with Miami outscoring Washington by 20 points during that span.
“I feel great with those two guys,” Dragic said of playing alongside Adebayo and Butler. “I already know what they’re going to do. I have great chemistry with Jimmy. I keep looking for him on offense. I try to make stuff easier for him. I just know how to play with him. Even if I didn’t play a lot of minutes with him, I would still feel comfortable.”
The problem is that Dragic is now dealing with a sprained ankle that will keep him out of Sunday’s game and his status beyond that is unclear. With Dragic out against the Knicks, the Heat could move Herro back into the starting lineup or insert Nunn or Gabe Vincent into that starting spot.
The Adebayo-Butler-Dragic combination was a plus-83 in 352 minutes together during last season’s playoff run to the Finals.
“I’m pretty comfortable with any lineup that we put out there,” Butler said. “I like hooping with Goran — I do — same with Tyler, though. As long as we win, you can say it was this, you can say it was that. All in all, we’ve just got to find out a way to keep winning.”
The Heat also has to find a way to remain healthy, which would lead to more Adebayo-Butler-Dragic minutes.
“We just need more time,” Spoelstra said. “We spent a lot of time together this past week. We just need to continue to do that.”
Next up for the Heat are a lot of road games. Miami plays eight of its next nine games away from home, including a challenging seven-game trip beginning on Thursday that spans almost two weeks and takes the team to the other side of the country.
“Just keep playing basketball the right way knowing that it’ll work itself out,” Butler said. “We can’t look back and be like, ‘Man, if we would’ve done that.’ It starts now. We’ve got to start stringing them together. We can’t worry about the losses that we had already. We’ve got to make sure that starts now moving forward. We’ve got to start stacking these wins. We have to.”
▪ Along with missing Dragic, the Heat will be without Bradley (right calf strain), Moe Harkless (left thigh contusion), Meyers Leonard (left shoulder surgery) and Chris Silva (left hip flexor strain) on Sunday against the Knicks. All five players did not travel with the team to New York.
Butler (left foot contusion) and Vincent (right knee soreness) are listed as probable to play.
Dragic exited Friday’s win in the third quarter with an ankle injury and did not return. The Heat said X-rays returned negative.
“It happened on defense,” Dragic said Friday night of the injury. “I was trying to contain [Russell] Westbrook and the leg just ... I twisted my ankle. So it swelled up. It hurts right now, so I don’t know how bad it is.”
This story was originally published February 6, 2021 at 1:53 PM.
