As the Miami Heat will come back home to start a four-game home stretch, they will once again be without three key starters Wednesday against the Charlotte Hornets. The team announced on their X (formerly known as Twitter) account that Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, and Haywood Highsmith will be out.
As said before, this won't be the first time these three have missed time this season. For Adebayo, it will be his fifth straight missed game due to a hip injury that's been nagging him since earlier in the season. Highsmith is dealing with a back problem that's kept him out since Dec. 2 against the Indiana Pacers.
Tyler Herro is still making a slow recovery after suffering from a Grade 2 ankle sprain in early November. While the team said they'd re-evaluate Herro's injury two weeks after the announcement, there hasn't been any word from the team about a potential time-table besides Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra saying he has progressed.
Spoelstra doesn't want to make excuses
Miami has dealt with injuries before as it was a huge problem last season which led to an inconsistent regular season finishing as the No. 8 seed. So far in 2023, they're 13-10 heading into Wednesday's game and Spoelstra said there shouldn't be any excuses as they have to focus on the one game that's in front of you.
“It's not about making excuses. It's not about who's not available. We've got enough to focus on for one game,” Spoelstra said before Monday's game against the Hornets. “In some of the missed games, we’ve had so many opportunities to win. That’s all it’s about right now. It’s not about making excuses. It’s not about who’s not available.”
Spoelstra has always expressed confidence in his team even with the “moving parts.” However, he wants the team to be more consistent and sustain leads which has been a problem so far this season.
“We’ve proven that even with moving parts, that we can get double-digit leads and can play extremely well on both ends of the court. It’s the consistency that we have to continue to build on,” Spoelstra said. “And that’s not exclusive to us. There are teams that are at the top of the conference and basically everybody else is trying to figure out what we’re trying to figure out.”
Spoelstra confident in Heat's front-court depth
Adebayo has been a huge loss for the Heat as the team has missed his elite defense, soaring offense, and exceptional rebounding. However, Spoelstra said before the Pacers game on Dec. 2 that he is confident in the front-court depth of Miami that consists of the likes of Kevin Love, Orlando Robinson, and Thomas Bryant.
“It's not our first time, so we feel comfortable about our front-court depth. It'll look a little bit different which is what we like about our depth. Each guy brings something a little bit different, and they've all proven that they've been able to impact games already to help us win,” Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints. “The game that you know, bam, missed in Cleveland, we got some great front-court play you know, from our bigs and it may be a little bit different tonight. These guys played super small and in some of their lineups. So we just have to figure it out and just make an impact for whatever minutes they have in that spot.”
Miami beat the Hornets Monday on the road and look to take advantage of the four-games ahead where they are at the Kaseya Center. It starts with a back-to-back starting tomorrow against the Hornets and then Thursday against the Chicago Bulls.
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