Miami Heat coach praises team depth
NEW YORK — Bam Adebayo’s absence with a bruised left hip in Wednesday night’s 129-96 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers wasn’t necessarily a one-off. The Miami Heat center also sat out the Heat Oct. 30 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks with the same ailment.
But coach Erik Spoelstra said it doesn’t mean it is a chronic injury.
“It’s not a lingering thing,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat turning their attention to Friday night’s game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, the fourth stop on a five-game trip that concludes Saturday against the Brooklyn Nets. “He’s padded. He just took a hard fall in the Chicago game (Monday night) in the exact same spot that he did earlier in the season when he had to miss a game.
“He was able to do some things in (Wednesday morning’s) shootaround, but not jump. So we’ll just have to see.”
Adebayo responded from the previous absence with a 21-point, 14-rebound performance the following game two nights later.
“I don’t want to prognosticate on it,” Spoelstra said. “But the last time he was able to heal pretty quickly. He was able to do everything (Wednesday) except for jump, which is kind of needed in an NBA basketball game. But he was doing treatment around the clock.”
In Adebayo’s absence, as well as the absence of backup center Kevin Love for a personal reason, Thomas Bryant stepped up as the starting center in Cleveland, Orlando Robinson doing the same as the backup center.
“I said this felt like one of the deeper teams we’ve had. In particular, what I meant was the frontcourt,” Spoelstra said. “We have more depth at those frontcourt positions than we’ve had probably in some of the previous years, and we just really commend Thomas and Orlando for staying ready.
“It’s not easy. This league is not easy when you’re worthy enough to play and you’re not playing, but you stay ready and you stay pure in your intentions. You stay attentive and working behind the scenes, which both of them have done, and when inevitably when your number is called. then you’re ready to produce.”
Bryant closed with 10 points and seven rebounds in Cleveland, in his first action in four games.
“I feel I’ve adapted more being out there more with my teammates and being with them in practice, shootarounds, talking with coaches to understand the concepts we want to get done out there,” Bryant said.
Robinson added 14 points and nine rebounds Wednesday, with most of his prior work done this season out of public view.
“Just trying to max out every day, do as much as I can, stay ready,” said Robinson, who had appeared in only one of the previous 10 games, a mop-up assignment in Monday night’s blowout victory over the Chicago Bulls. “Running, lifting three times a day, working on the things that I need to work on. Like I got to work on my body and strength and efficiency, so that’s what I do. Try to max out and do as much as I can, so when my time does come, then I’m ready.”
New concern
Guard Dru Smith left Wednesday night’s game after just 81 seconds of action with a knee injury, after a second-quarter misstep while attempting to defend a corner 3-pointer by former Heat forward Max Strus.
The court at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse is elevated, creating a ledge beyond the sideline.
“It is a dangerous floor,” Spoelstra said. “I don’t know the history of injuries here. But we’ve had a couple scares in previous years when guys are closing out in that corner. Thankfully, nobody has been injured before. But it’s an accident waiting to happen. You close out and then all of a sudden you’re going off a cliff.
“It’s just so dangerous. As soon as he stayed down, we all knew that that’s probably what happened and that’s what was the case. And we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Smith is on a partially guaranteed contract.
“It’s really unfortunate for an effort play,” Spoelstra said. “If the court was normal, I think there wouldn’t have been any kind of incident.”
Big night
In a season that had not featured a double-digit victory prior to Monday in Chicago, Wednesday’s result particularly stood out.
As noted by the Heat:
— The 33-point victory was the Heat’s second-largest margin of victory in a road game in the franchise’s 36 seasons, surpassed only by a 107-73 Jan. 1, 2003 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
— The 129 points were the most scored by the Heat against the Cavaliers, with the previous high being 126 on March 8, 2019.
— The margin of victory was the Heat’s largest ever over the Cavaliers, having three times previously defeated Cleveland by 28.
— The eight players scoring in double figures tied for the most in any game since the team’s 1988 inception, the eighth time the Heat have done so. The previous time was against the Cavaliers on Nov. 23, 2022.
G League update
In his third game on G League assignment with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Heat 2022 first-round pick Nikola Jovic struggled to a seven-point, 2-of-9 performance in a 141-125 loss to the Chicago Bulls’ affiliate, the Windy City Bulls. Jovic in his 26:25 also closed with six rebounds and four assists.
It was a better night for the two two-way Heat players on G League assignment. Forward Jamal Cain closed with 27 points and nine rebounds, with forward Cole Swider finishing with 24 points, including six 3-pointers.
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