Miami Heat’s Delon Wright back after absence vs. Celtics
MIAMI – Veteran guard Delon Wright rejoined the Miami Heat ahead of Monday night’s playoff game against the Boston Celtics at Kaseya Center, after being away from the team for the birth of his daughter.
The Heat initially had listed Wright as being away for a personal family reason, with the additional detail offered with Wright’s return ahead of Game 4 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series.
Wright had provided solid efforts off the bench as the Heat split the first two games of the series at TD Garden, before missing Friday night’s 104-84 loss at Kaseya Center.
The 31-year-old defensive stopper had been pressed into action amid the absences of Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozer and Josh Richardson.
Monday marked the fifth consecutive absence for Butler with the sprained MCL in his right knee sustained in the April 17 play-in round road loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Rozier on Monday missed his 10th consecutive game with what is being listed as neck spasms. Richardson has not played since dislocating his right shoulder in the Feb. 11 home loss to the Celtics, having since undergone season-ending surgery.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra tightened his rotation in Friday’s absence of Wright, before giving Patty Mills his first action of the series in that fourth quarter.
Wright, acquired off the buyout market in February after he was waived by the Washington Wizards, will be a free agent in the offseason.
Because of the team’s absences, forward Caleb Martin said it is imperative that those available maintain an aggressive bent.
“Just be assertive, not being passive,” he said. “I think I’ve got to set a certain tone defensively from the very jump, too. I’ve got to find a way to get my guys going and bring that spark that I typically try to bring every night.
“So I got to do a better job and impact the team right away.”
On and on
With the teams meeting in the playoffs for the fourth time in the past five years, Heat forward Haywood Highsmith at Monday morning’s shootaround was asked to reflect on the rivalry.
“Obviously we’ve had meetings with this same team in the past, so it’s definitely been interesting battles,” he said.
The difference this time is the Heat entered as an overwhelming underdog.
“I think we’re kind of used to it,” Haywood said. “Obviously everybody’s counting us out this series because we got some people down. The Celtics are the number-one team in the NBA record-wise. So a lot of people are counting us out.
“So we’re used to it. We’re used to being an underdog. Nobody talks about us. Nobody wants to see us win. So we’re just kind of used to it. It’s built into us at this point.”
Still pushing
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said he is not surprised the series has taken on an emotional edge.
“This is what the playoffs are about,” he said. “You have so many different emotions. You have to be so mentally and emotionally, physically sharp, and deal with what’s real, deal with what you need to do better and then collectively go after it the next time you have an opportunity.”
Martin said the competition is borne out of respect.
“It’s just that we’re just competing and just trying to get after it,” he said “Overall, we’re all just trying to do whatever we can to get our team to get a win.”
After two two-day breaks in the schedule over the first three games, Monday began scheduling with games every other day.
“Now we’re getting into the part of the series where it’s one day in between,” Martin said, “So you can’t sit there and dwell.”
