Injury-depleted Miami Heat needs most or all of their forgotten four. Where they stand
For much of the past week — longer in some cases — they have been the forgotten four, a quartet of former Heat rotation players who have become afterthoughts during this playoff run.
Welcome back, Kendrick Nunn, Derrick Jones Jr., Kelly Olynyk and perhaps Meyers Leonard.
Amid injuries to Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic — who are both listed as doubtful for Friday’s Game 2 of the NBA Finals — most or all of those forgotten four are poised to be reintroduced to the rotation. Nunn assuredly will.
“At this point, it’s all hands on deck, and it’s not like the guys that were potentially sliding into the rotation haven’t played before,” Erik Spoelstra said. “These guys have confidence and have played big roles for us all year long. Our depth has been one of our biggest strengths.”
Without Adebayo, Spoelstra will have no choice but to use Olynyk or Leonard — or possibly both — against an imposing Lakers front line.
Asked if a goal is to play one or both players to try to draw the Lakers big men to the three-point line, forward Jae Crowder said: “That’s the game plan. We know exactly how they can affect the game; just a matter of us putting them in position to help us win games. Those guys spread the floor for us and are big bodies to match their length on the inside. So, we know exactly what Meyers and Kelly bring to our team, and hopefully we can exploit that to the best of our ability.”
No NBA player (minimum 20 makes) shot threes better — or even close to as well — as Olynyk between the All-Star break and the suspension of the season. During that period, Olynyk hit 20 of 30 threes (66.6 percent). He shot 8 for 17 on threes in the first two seeding games but missed 25 of his next 32 three-point attempts and slowly lost minutes as the playoffs progressed.
Olynyk was used for just 39 minutes in the six-game Eastern Conference finals before being needed for 18 minutes in Game 1 of the Finals, in the wake of Adebayo’s injury.
Olynyk has shot just 6 for 23 overall since the start of the Boston series. But during his three seasons here, the Heat often has played very with Olynyk on the court.
In the four games in which he has played more than 14 minutes in the playoffs, the Heat has outscored teams by 15, 7, 22 and 14 points during Olynyk’s time on the court. And he has held the player he’s guarding to 39.3 percent shooting in postseason, compared to 48.7 during the regular season.
As for Leonard, he has played in just one of 16 Heat playoff games, going scoreless in a nine-minute stretch in a Game 3 win against Milwaukee.
Before an ankle injury sidelined him the day after the Super Bowl until the suspension of the season on March 12, Leonard was a key component of the Heat rotation, with Miami winning 34 of the 49 games he started.
But everything changed in the bubble, when Leonard struggled to regain his rhythm in practice and preseason games, and Spoelstra replaced him with Crowder in the starting lineup before seeding games began. Leonard played only in the final two seeding games, with the Heat resting others.
Like Olynyk, he can potentially draw Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard or JaVale McGee to the three-point line when Miami is on offense. Leonard’s 39.0 career three-point shooting percentage is among the best in NBA history for a seven-footer. This season, he shot 41.4 percent on threes: 53 for 128.
As for Nunn, his 18 points in 20 minutes Thursday marked his first double-digit scoring game of postseason. He played just 23 minutes in the Boston series and said his rhythm was the last thing to come back after his bout with COVID-19 in late June and early July.
He said while he sat on the bench in recent weeks, “I definitely had those thoughts” about would he get another chance. “Now is the time,” he said. “I believe I can help my team win.”
Crowder has tried to keep Nunn’s spirits up. “I remember when Goran went out for Game 5 of that [Indiana] series for a split second and coach threw him in and he made some plays on the offensive end,” Crowder said. “I remember him coming back to the sideline, and I said, ‘I told you. Your number is going to get called again. Stay prepared, stay ready. You can’t get frustrated with the process of what the coaches see.’”
As for Jones, his minutes have dwindled in the wake of several mistakes during the playoffs, including fouling multiple shooters on three-point attempts. He logged only 30 minutes in the Boston series, with some of his minutes given to Solomon Hill.
Jones also played behind Hill in Game 1 against the Lakers, logging only seven minutes.
The Heat has been outscored by 21 points in Jones’ 37 minutes since the Boston series started.
But among players who defended at least 500 shots this season, only two NBA forwards — Giannis Antetokounmpo and Pascal Siakam — allowed the player they’re defending to shoot a lower percentage than Jones did this season (40.8). In these playoffs, Jones is holding the player he’s guarding to 41.4 percent shooting.
“He definitely can be a disruptive defender,” Crowder said. “He brings length and he’s definitely an athletic guy, so he can definitely alter some shots. That’s what we need moving forward.”
Here’s what TV analysts said about the Heat on Thursday, including a former Heat star calling for the team to rip up its game plan.
This story was originally published October 1, 2020 at 4:16 PM.
