It is no secret that the Miami Heat have been dealing with injury problems this season as the team was missing stars Bam Adebayo and especially Tyler Herro for an extended period of time. When those two came back last Monday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, there was some hope that a full-powered Heat team can get some playing time together.
The day after the loss to Minnesota, it's announced from the team that Jimmy Butler will be out for Wednesday's game against the Magic, and now, he'll be out for Friday against the Atlanta Hawks. It's been a constant trend even since last season where the team couldn't get their chemistry together, but once they do, they become a dangerous team as Adebayo said according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
“We have ups and downs throughout the season and we had them last year,” Adebayo said. “So a lot of guys who have been through what we been through last year know there are always brighter days and you always have an opportunity to get wins. I feel like we have a team, even though we’re down in guys, we can still get Ws.”
Erik Spoelstra says the Heat have continuity
There's no doubt that the team has loads of depth, the same trait that Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra has been praising since training camp. He touts the team's “continuity” as a positive.
“We do feel like we have great depth,” Spoelstra said. “We have great continuity, so I’m not as concerned when we’ve had to deal with guys missing games. It’s more about developing the consistency to our identity, which we know. We have the continuity. It’s about whoever is out there, we know what we need to try to do. We just need to do it more consistently.”
The bench has played a huge role in the success of the Heat to keep the ship afloat before the team can be at full health. He acknowledged that Adebayo and Herro “anchored” the win against the Magic, but the second unit were vital.
“I thought that was just as big of a factor and that’s what I mentioned in the locker room that our bench really drove us to this win,” Spoelstra said. “They finished the second quarter and finished the game, for the most part. Tyler and Bam anchored it, but we had some great production.”
With such names as rookie sensation Jaime Jaquez Jr., Thomas Bryant, Haywood Highsmith, Josh Richardson, Duncan Robinson, and more, it is hard to find a better bench than that. Spoelstra said after the game that Miami does not win if not for the bench.
“Thomas was a plus-20. Obviously, Highsmith was really good defensively and then knocked down threes. So that makes everybody else notice out there,” Spoelstra said. “But he did a lot of other intangible things to contribute to winning. And J-Rich and Duncan were both so rock solid in this game. We don’t win this game without that production from those guys.”
Spoelstra confident in the Heat's depth
Spoelstra is so confident in the team's bench and depth, he touts after the Magic win that the Heat have “more continuity than probably a lot of teams.” It is hard to debate the coach as it was a key reason why Miami showed so much chemistry in their miraculous run in the playoffs last season.
“We have great continuity,” Spoelstra said. “Some of that stuff, we’ve talked about missed games and all that. You take, I don’t even want to talk about it. But take out [Omer] Yurtseven and a little bit of [Victor Oladipo’s] last year, we’re not up there ranking the way people think we’re ranking in missed games. We have more continuity than probably a lot of teams. And I feel very good about that.”
Depth and valuable role players mandatory in the NBA
For the head coach, having solid depth and contributions from various people besides the star players is vital for an NBA team via The Miami Herald
“I feel very good about our depth, I feel very good that different players are able to step up and contribute to winning on different nights,” Spoelstra said. “You need that in this league. It doesn’t have to be what everybody thinks it has to be. The traditional whatever. It doesn’t have to be. You need depth and you need guys that feel like they can contribute and add to the winning.”
As the Heat continue to deal with injury problems, they will have to persevere as they have a matchup against the Hawks Friday. They are 16-12 on the season which puts them seventh in the Eastern Conference.
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