Despite plenty of injuries and road games, Heat ‘right where we want to be’ at midway point
The Miami Heat’s leading trio of Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry has been available for just 14 of its first 41 games. But somehow, the Heat arrives to the midway point of the season with the third-best record in the Eastern Conference.
“I think we’re right where we want to be,” Heat guard Tyler Herro said. “If you told anyone at the beginning of the season that we would play this many games without Jimmy and Bam and this would be our record, I think people would look at you crazy. It just shows the grit of this team. We’re a really deep team.”
With Wednesday’s road win against the Atlanta Hawks without Adebayo and Butler, the Heat improved to 26-15 and stands just two games behind the Chicago Bulls for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Miami opens the second half of the season Friday with a rematch against the Hawks at FTX Arena (8 p.m., Bally Sports Sun).
The Heat is also the only team in the NBA with both a top-six offensive and defensive rating this season.
The Heat has faced adversity along the way over the first half of its schedule:
▪ The Heat’s best two players missed extended stretches. Adebayo has been unavailable for 20 consecutive games after undergoing thumb surgery in early December and Butler missed 18 of the first 41 games because of a sprained right ankle and tail bone contusion.
How has the Heat survived their absences? Miami is 11-4 without Adebayo and Butler this season.
▪ But there have been others on the Heat’s roster who have been missed extended time, too, because of injury and/or illness. Among them, center Dewayne Dedmon sat out seven games, Herro missed six games, wing Caleb Martin has been unavailable for nine games, forward Markieff Morris missed 31 games and hasn’t played since Nov. 8, forward KZ Okpala has been unavailable for eight games, guard Victor Oladipo hasn’t played yet this season as he recovers from knee surgery, forward Max Strus has missed nine games, forward P.J. Tucker sat out six games, and guard Gabe Vincent has been unavailable for five games.
▪ The Heat has played 25 road games and only 16 home games, so far. That’s tied with the Charlotte Hornets and Orlando Magic for the most road games played in the NBA. Among the 15 teams that have played the most games away from home this season, the Heat owns the best overall record. Miami is 12-4 at FTX Arena and 14-11 on the road this season.
“I think what this team has learned to do is just continue to have to find a way to win,” forward Duncan Robinson said. “Different lineups, different people in and out, different ways as well. We’ve had games where we’ve won with both teams below 100. We’ve had games where we’ve won in the 100s. I think it has been a great opportunity for a bunch of guys to step up and I think it’s also showcased out depth.”
According to Spotrac’s database, only the rosters of the Magic (271 games) and Los Angeles Clippers (199 games) have lost more games due to injury or illness than the Heat (178 games) this season. As a result, the Heat has used 17 different players and nine different starting lineups since the start of December.
Robinson pointed to coach Erik Spoelstra as a driving force behind the Heat’s short-handed success. Spoelstra was the named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for December.
“I think he has really embraced where to find competitive advantages in between the margins,” Robinson said. “I think with all the craziness of this year, the protocols, people in and out of the lineup, our injury situation, how we play with certain lineups looks different than how we play with others. Not being stubborn or hard headed over how we have to play and just kind of being fluid in that sense.”
Then Robinson emphasized Lowry’s impact in his first season with the Heat. Through all of the Heat’s injury and COVID-19 issues, Lowry has been one of the constants with appearances in 37 of the first 41 games.
“I give a lot of credit to somebody like Kyle, as well,” Robinson said. “He’s very much dictating what we’re doing on the floor. So I think a lot of credit, obviously, goes to Spo. He’s kind of moving the pieces and coming up with game plans, as well as the rest of the staff. But in terms of execution, Kyle has been kind of the rock behind all the craziness.”
It helps that players such as rookie center Omer Yurtseven and undrafted finds such as Martin, Strus and Vincent have flourished in bigger roles with teammates sidelined.
“We view it as a great strength of ours that we have this depth and have guys that really want to contribute and compete for something big,” Spoelstra said. “... We’ve just been living in a world and a profession right now where there has just been a lot of inordinate moving parts. Our guys have handled it really well.”
With the second half of the Heat’s season about to begin, there’s hope that the roster will get healthier soon.
Adebayo’s recovery timetable from thumb surgery has him back at some point in January. And Butler, who has missed the last three games with a sprained ankle, could potentially return Friday against the Hawks.
Butler is listed as questionable for Friday’s contest. The Heat ruled out Adebayo, Marcus Garrett (return to competition reconditioning after clearing protocols), Morris (return to competition reconditioning after clearing protocols and whiplash), Okpala (sprained right wrist) and Oladipo (right knee injury recovery).
The second half of the Heat’s schedule also includes a lot less travel. After a road-heavy start to the season, 25 of Miami’s final 41 games come at FTX Arena.
As the roster gets healthier and a long stretch at home begins, the Heat is looking forward to what could be ahead.
“I think everybody realizes that the first half of the schedule was road intensive,” Spoelstra said. “We literally didn’t even feel like we’ve had opportunities to unpack our bags and repack. We just kept the same bag. Everybody has pretty good awareness that that was a little bit different.
“But you have to stay on edge. That’s one of the advantages of being on the road. You know that it’s going to be tough and that raises the level of urgency that doesn’t always necessarily happen at home. We want to keep on building and getting better as a team. I think that’s the bigger focus.”
ALL-STAR UPDATE
The second returns of fan balloting for the All-Star Game released Thursday has Butler (978,889 votes) fifth among Eastern Conference frontcourt players behind Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant (4,088,334), Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo (3,808,458), Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid (2,357,404) and Boston’s Jayson Tatum (1,155,591). Adebayo is seventh among East frontcourt players with 282,512 votes.
Herro and Lowry are not in the top 10 in fan votes among East guards. Herro dropped out of the top 10 after making the list when the initial returns were released last week.
Fans account for 50 percent of the vote to determine the 10 starters for the Feb. 20 NBA All-Star Game, which will take place at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. All current NBA players and a media panel account for 25 percent apiece of the vote, with every voter completing a ballot featuring two guards and three frontcourt players.
Voting for fans will conclude Jan. 22
This story was originally published January 13, 2022 at 12:32 PM.
