Do The Miami Heat Need A Bigger Lineup?
The Miami Heat were beaten badly in rebounding in Wednesday’s loss to the Phoenix Suns.
The Suns held a 55-38 edge in the victory.
“I mean, [Suns center Deandre] Ayton is big,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I think we are better on the glass then what we showed tonight. Better in a lot of different areas than we showed, and that’s not taking anything away from Phoenix.”
Which brings the question: Do the Heat need to rethink their frontcourt lineup? They’ve played small mostly throughout the season with Bam Adebayo at center and P.J. Tucker at forward.
The lone time the Heat played big was when Adebayo was sidelined for six weeks because of thumb surgery. During that time, center Omer Yurtseven shined in Adebayo’s absence. At one point, he had a rookie record with four consecutive games with at least 16 rebounds and he had 11 straight with at least 12 boards.
Yurtseven’s production has declined since Adebayo returned. He’s averaged just 6.6 minutes in the last 13 games. The Heat haven’t suffered in the win column because they still lead the Eastern Conference.
The Heat coaching staff has the option of playing Adebayo alongside Yurtseven. Then again, what they have done so far this season has worked. Choosing which way to go is a question the Heat have the remainder of the year to ponder.
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