Miami Heat guard Dion Waiters has appeared in just 35 games this season as he makes his way back from an ankle injury that has severely hampered his playing time over the past two seasons. On pace to play a career-low 24.8 minutes per game, Waiters knows that he's not fully back to where he wants to be yet, saying via Ira Winderman of the SunSentinel:

“My explosion still is not where I wanted it to be. I still got to work on my body every day. But, most important, man, just being aggressive. I think I've got to come out and be aggressive, try to set the tone and get going.

“I'm not where I want to be, nowhere near where I want to be,” Waiters said. “I just control what I can control and that's just working. I'm just working, man, that's all. I'm feeling the game out and I'm going to shoot my shots and that's what I got to do.”

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Waiters is launching just 9.7 shot attempts per game, way down from the 13.7 he averaged in 30 contests last season. But fewer shots has led to a higher percentage in 2018-19; 41.3 percent overall and 37.1 from long range. Despite tossing in just 10.7 points per game, Waiters' effective field-goal percentage is far and away the best of his career this season at 52.3 percent.

The Heat are currently holding onto the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. With a glut of guards at their disposal, Waiters will continue to try and get going offensively, which could be a major boon to the Heat as they seek a potential first-round upset.