The context behind the Heat’s best stretch of season. Also, Dedmon on suspension and role
There’s no denying that the Miami Heat is currently in the middle of its best stretch of the season. After falling to 12-15, the Heat has won 12 of its last 17 games to pick itself up and move four games above .500 for the first time this season.
“What you want out of a team is that you’re growing from your experiences, particularly if you have some tough times of adversity,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, with the Heat (24-20) now set to open a three-game trip on Monday against the Hawks (21-22) in Atlanta as part of the league’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day lineup (3:30 p.m., TNT). “You want that to bring your team closer together and that’s kind of what I’ve been saying that that’s what I felt the last three weeks. Regardless of the very tough crushing losses or the wins, you just can kind of sense when a team is getting bonded by those collective experiences.”
But, like in most situations, context is required.
The Heat has taken advantage of a soft spot in its schedule during this 17-game span filled with wins.
Of the Heat’s 12 wins during this stretch, seven came against teams that entered Sunday with a sub-.500 record — two against the Oklahoma City Thunder, one against the Houston Rockets, one against the San Antonio Spurs, one against the Los Angeles Lakers, one against the Utah Jazz and one against the Phoenix Suns — and two came against teams that entered Sunday with a .500 record — one against the Minnesota Timberwolves and one against the Los Angeles Clippers.
The only three wins during this span against teams currently with winning records: a road victory over the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 12 and the last two wins over the Milwaukee Bucks in Miami. But the Bucks were without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and three-time All-Star Khris Middleton in both games against the Heat.
While these details provide some perspective about what the Heat has done over the last month, the bottom line is it has not wasted the opportunity to make up ground in the standings after a slow start to the season.
The Heat has also dealt with and managed to survive its own injury issues during this stretch. Over the last 17 games, Bam Adebayo missed three games, Jimmy Butler missed four games, Tyler Herro missed four games, Kyle Lowry missed seven games and Caleb Martin missed nine games.
The Heat’s preferred starting lineup of Lowry, Herro, Butler, Martin and Adebayo opened just four of the last 17 games because of those injuries.
Through it all, the Heat has leaned on its defense to win games. During this 12-5 surge that began Dec. 12, Miami has posted the NBA’s second-ranked defensive rating and 21st-ranked offensive rating for the eighth-ranked net rating.
“Our togetherness,” Butler said when asked what has worked lately. “We’re guarding a high level. We’re limiting our mistakes on the defensive end. It always helps to make shots and we’re competing. So as long as we take that into these next couple matchups we got on the road, we’ll be alright.”
With seven of the Heat’s next 10 games coming on the road and five of those seven road games coming against teams with winning records, challenging tests are ahead. And Miami still has plenty of work to do, entering Sunday in seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
“I feel like in this stretch, we’ve really been enjoying basketball and you see it on the court,” Adebayo said. “We’re way more connected than we’ve been since the beginning of the season. And we’re executing, making plays, and guys are making shots and getting in a rhythm.”
DEDMON SPEAKS
For the first time since serving his team-issued one-game suspension for “conduct detrimental to the team,” Heat veteran center Dewayne Dedmon spoke to reporters following Saturday’s home win over the Bucks.
“I talked with Spo, talked with Pat [Riley], talked with my team, made sure we were all on the same page. And we’re ready to move on from it,” Dedmon said.
Dedmon’s suspension stemmed from his outburst after being subbed out during Tuesday’s win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was not pleased that he was pulled from the game after just a five-minute stint, getting into a heated discussion with Spoelstra on the sideline before swatting a massage gun onto the court during play as he left the bench and stormed back to the locker room.
Dedmon made clear that the massage gun aspect of the bizarre sequence of events was “all unintentional.”
“Just frustration, man,” Dedmon said when asked what led to his blow-up near the Heat’s bench. “Sometimes it gets the best of you. But it’s basketball. We’re all competitors in this locker room, we all want to play and we all want to win. So that’s all that is.”
But even with Dedmon back in uniform and available for Saturday’s win over the Bucks, he did not play. The Heat again used undrafted rookie Orlando Robinson ahead of Dedmon as the backup center.
Dedmon has been used as the Heat’s backup center for most of the season, but the results have not been positive as he continues to battle plantar fasciitis in his left foot. The Heat has been outscored by 10.1 points per 100 possessions with Dedmon on the court this season.
Things have been trending recently toward Robinson taking over as the backup center, with Robinson now used in that role ahead of Dedmon in the last two games that Dedmon has been available for. Dedmon became eligible to be included in a trade starting on Sunday.
“I’m good,” Dedmon said of his diminished role. “I understand the clarity of the situation. So I’m just ready to move past it.”
INJURY REPORT
The Heat ruled out Nikola Jovic (lower back stress reaction), Lowry (left knee discomfort), Duncan Robinson (finger surgery) and Omer Yurtseven (left ankle surgery) for Monday’s game against the Hawks.
Lowry will miss his fourth straight game because of his left knee issue, but he did travel with the team to Atlanta on Sunday.
Martin (left quadriceps strain) is listed as questionable and Udonis Haslem (right Achilles tendinosis) is listed as probable for the Heat.
Herro, who has missed the last three games with Achilles soreness, is not on the Heat’s injury report and is expected to play against the Hawks on Monday.
This story was originally published January 15, 2023 at 9:53 AM.
