A look at an evolving aspect of Heat’s rotation, and the updated injury report vs. Warriors
The Miami Heat’s rotation is evolving, and that process will likely continue in the playoffs.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has shown this season that he’ll leverage the roster’s quality depth to tweak the rotation from game to game based on matchups. That has been especially evident lately as Spoelstra has used Markieff Morris as the Heat’s center off the bench over Dewayne Dedmon.
Morris, who offers a small-ball center option at 6-9 and 245 pounds, played in Dedmon’s spot in the Heat’s bench rotation for the second straight game in Monday’s road loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. The last two games have marked Dedmon’s first DNP-CDs (did not play, coach’s decision) of the season.
“This was more matchup based,” Spoelstra said of why he played Morris instead of Dedmon, a 7-footer, on Monday against the 76ers. “That can change game to game. We’re so close to the playoffs right now, it will eventually become just that.”
With 76ers All-Star center Joel Embiid missing the game because of back soreness, the 6-7 Paul Millsap started in his place. The Heat went with a smaller approach in response.
Morris finished Monday’s loss with four points on 2-of-4 shooting from the field and 0-of-2 shooting on threes, one rebound and one assist in 11:37 off the bench. Every second of his playing time came with Heat starting center Bam Adebayo on the bench.
Morris split his minutes Monday between Caleb Martin and P.J. Tucker as his frontcourt partner. The Heat was outscored by five points in the six minutes that Morris and Martin played together and by one point in the five minutes that Morris and Tucker played together.
For the season, the Morris-Martin duo has posted a plus/minus of minus-seven in 72 minutes and the Morris-Tucker combo is a plus-12 in 30 minutes.
“Markieff is just a good winning veteran player,” Spoelstra said. “He does a lot of things that fit with what we do. Positionally, I think that can be overanalyzed right now whether he’s at the four or the five. I just think if he’s out there, he can complement a lot of the guys that have gained a lot of confidence this season while he was out and have really taken big steps forward, particularly some of our young guys. I think he complements them very well.”
Morris is a more switchable defender than Dedmon and has a skill set that allows the Heat to play a similar style to the one it uses when Adebayo is at center. Morris has shot a solid 13 of 30 (43.3 percent) on midrange shots and has generated one point per possession out of post-ups (69th percentile in the NBA) this season.
Spoelstra also has the option to play bigger and use Morris as a forward alongside Adebayo or Dedmon if the matchup calls for it. The Morris-Adebayo look is a plus-24 in 96 minutes and the Morris-Dedmon pairing is a plus-one in 86 minutes this season.
Since returning in a March 12 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves after missing four months because of a neck issue, Morris has averaged eight points on 51.9 percent shooting from the field and 1-of-9 (11.1 percent) shooting on threes, three rebounds and 1.3 assists in four games.
“He has a lot of playoff experience, which we like,” Spoelstra said of Morris, with less than three weeks left in the regular season. “These next 10 games will be very important for him. We’ll figure it out. I just want to be open to all the possibilities, whatever makes the most sense. Once you get in the playoffs, a lot of it does become matchup based.”
INJURY REPORT
The Heat listed Jimmy Butler (right ankle sprain), Tyler Herro (left knee sprain), Martin (hyperextended left knee) and Victor Oladipo (lower back spasms) as questionable for Wednesday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors at FTX Arena.
Butler sprained his right ankle last week and missed Friday’s win over the Oklahoma City Thunder before returning to play 35 minutes in Monday’s loss to the 76ers.
“I’m OK,” Butler said when asked about his ankle following the Heat’s defeat in Philadelphia. “A little bit more rest and recovery coming. But it’s as good as I’m going to feel right now out there. And then I’ve got another day until we play on Wednesday.”
The Heat ruled out Gabe Vincent (big toe contusion), Kyle Guy (G League) and Javonte Smart (G League) for Wednesday.
The Warriors have not yet issued their injury report for Wednesday’s game in Miami because they first play Tuesday night against the Magic in Orlando to kick off the back-to-back set. But All-Star guard Stephen Curry is expected to be out against the Heat with a sprained left foot.
