MIAMI – With the Miami Heat making a push for the playoffs, the team is trending in the wrong direction after losing its third straight game, this time to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night, 134-126. As the Heat face a gauntlet of tough opponents in the home stretch of the season, the team is still trying to figure out a key area with 12 games left, as it involves the duo of Norman Powell and Tyler Herro.
The explosive guard duo has only been together in 14 games this season due to each missing significant time with injuries, especially Herro, who's missed 47 total contests with a myriad of issues. Powell has filled in the void as the leading scoring guard in Herro's absence, leading to the veteran becoming a first-time All-Star and leading Miami with 22.4 points per game.
Thursday night saw head coach Erik Spoelstra have Powell come off the bench in what could be a fluid situation as the team figures out how to utilize both Powell and Herro. For Spoelstra, he believes it'll “work itself out,” admitting it is “tough to assess,” and even going so far as to say it is “behind” in his list of priorities.
“The skill level with both of them on the court, that'll work itself out,” Spoelstra said. “You know we need it. We need all the offensive firepower we can have right now. It's tough to assess, and I get it because that is a storyline, since they haven't had a full body of games and a season together, that's behind my order of priorities. Because if we're defending the way we had been defending, and getting stuff in the open court, and we're getting in transition, in my view, it just tends to work itself out.”
Heat's Norman Powell gives honest take on coming off the bench
Though the Heat's lineup could change with the injuries to Andrew Wiggins and Jaime Jaquez Jr., Powell's role on the team will be one to follow throughout the end of the regular season. Still, it's not like Spoelstra is keeping Powell and Herro away from each other, with them playing significant minutes together in the loss to the Lakers, despite the former coming off the bench.
Herro would record 21 points on eight of 19 shooting from the field, four of 10 from deep, to go along with eight rebounds and five assists. Powell did work well with the second unit, and even played extended stretches with starters towards the end, recording 32 minutes and scoring 20 points on seven of 13 shooting from the field.
Still, both of them on the floor together is a work in progress, and it's noticeable when looking at the spacing and defense of the two guards. Powell would speak about coming off the bench and how much of an adjustment it has been, with him downplaying it since he's had a multitude of roles throughout his more than decade-long career.
“Just playing my game, those decisions and things are above me,” Powell said. “I can't control that. I focus on what I can control: be a good teammate, be professional, continue to have confidence in myself, go out there and play the way I need to play, and whatever minutes I do get, figure it out and how we can make it work.”
Heat's Norman Powell sees himself as a starter
As the Heat were unable to stop Lakers star Luka Doncic, who put down a whopping 60 points, it started in the second half, where the star lit it up in the third quarter with 19 points, as he had 21 going into halftime. It was another disappointing loss for Miami, since they led by as much as 15 points in the first half, even scoring 42 in the opening frame.
The three-game skid is a setback for the Heat, especially when having a seven-game winning streak prior, as the team still needs to figure out a crucial role for Powell. Whether it's a permanent move or it'll be a game-by-game basis, Powell seems to think it's the latter.
Powell would be honest in saying that he believes he's a starter, but is accepting his role if Miami feels this is what it will take to win games.
“We talked, I don't know, game to game. I don't know, that's a question with [Spoelstra], but we talked about how it's going to be going forward is with everybody, you know, treating it every game as a playoff game, because it's so important,” Powell said. “And whatever role you're put in, the focus has to be going out there and winning the game, no matter what, and that's my focus. I feel like I'm a starter; I've worked to be in that role. But if the team feels that me coming off the bench some games, or whatever it is, based on matchup, is going to put us in position to win games, I'm going to accept the role and go out there and play basketball.”
Heat's Bam Adebayo downplays Norman Powell coming off the bench
At the end of the day, it remains to be seen how Powell's role changes with the Heat, but if there is one thing for certain, the minutes he's playing are integral. Miami captain Bam Adebayo would echo the same sentiment with ClutchPoints, saying how he is still playing a chunk of minutes, comparing it to how former star Lou Williams was managed off the bench.
“I mean, obviously, man was an All-Star, so we understand he can get it going,” Adebayo said after leading the team with 28 points and 10 rebounds. “You know, for me, it's always the other side. Always want my teammates scoring. Some of us are just built to do that. You know, for me, it's doing the little things on the other side, communication, being in your right spot, and then on the other end, it's sacrificing cuts every once in a while, and that's everybody.”
“It's not just Norm, I mean, Norm’s sacrifice, he’s coming off the bench, and he's figuring out his role, but he's still playing 32, so it's like, it doesn't matter about coming off the bench at the end of the day, because you're getting like Lou Will minutes coming off the bench, but you're still playing 30 plus.”
Besides Doncic, it was an efficient game for former Heat star LeBron James, who recorded 19 points on eight of 12 shooting from the field, to go along with 15 rebounds and 10 assists. At any rate, Miami is now back to the eighth seed at 38-32, with its next game on Saturday against the Houston Rockets.
