Miami Heat’s Caleb Martin finding way amid NBA playoff race

DALLAS — At the moment, everything is working. Or at least that’s what Miami Heat forward Caleb Martin chooses to believe.

Closer to the truth is that his game is working, a key component in the run of 11 victories in 14 games the Heat took into Thursday night’s nationally televised matchup against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center.

As for body parts? Save for a loose tooth or two, six stitches in his mouth, a sore thumb and a balky ankle, the fourth-year forward says it’s all good, too.

“It just comes with it,” Martin said matter of factly of his latest series of adventures, from the thumb sprain in last Thursday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets, to a blow to the face in Saturday night’s victory over the Utah Jazz, to the twisting of an ankle while tumbling into the photographers’ row along the baseline during Tuesday night’s victory over the Detroit Pistons at Kaseya Center.

For the 28-year-old forward, having only four issues going on at once actually could be considered a step in the right direction.

And lately, there have been plenty of such steps, including high-percentage 3-point shooting.

“I think I’m just letting go,” he said. “I think mentally I’m just playing more free and stop overthinking. I’m not overthinking stuff as much. I’ve spent a lot of time in the gym with the coaches. I know I’m a good shooter. So I’m not going to miss when I’m just letting it go.

“I’m not trying to muscle the ball in so much, just kind of let it roll off.”

Those rolls have contributed to the Heat’s roll, which comes as no surprise to coach Erik Spoelstra.

“I think the biggest thing is he’s gotten healthy,” Spoelstra said, with that all relative amid Martin’s smashmouth approach. “He didn’t have his legs under him at the beginning of the year, so he was just kind of doing whatever he had to do, just to get it up there and be available to the team. And that’s a great credit and I salute him.

“And the beginning of the year he wasn’t anywhere near full health. And how competitive he is, he’s just going to go all out, no brakes. And he just has to try to figure it out on the fly. He has his legs underneath him now and he understands. He’s a smart player, so he understands how important that is for us.”

There was a period where Spoelstra turned to Haywood Highsmith to play the role of Martin. But now Martin is trending back toward the player he was in last season’s playoffs.

“His slashing, his cutting, but also his spacing is really important for us,” Spoelstra said. “But he’s a great shooter. We tell him that all the time. He’s not a good shooter; he’s a great shooter. You watch him shoot in practice, he just knocks them down as well as anybody.

“It’s just a matter of getting comfortable of where he fits with different lineups and obviously that’s been a little bit of a challenge with all the moving parts. But he’s a competitor.”

This was to be the season when Martin would build on last season’s playoff success, opt out of the 2024-25 final season on his contract, then attack free agency this summer.