MIAMI – Before the Miami Heat take on the Washington Wizards on Monday, the team looks to bounce back after the disappointing events of Sunday. As the Heat lost in a heartbreaker to the New York Knicks, one positive was the performance of Kel'el Ware, though Erik Spoelstra wouldn't play him much in the second half, leading some to scratch their heads.

Ware had a dominant showing early as he was no doubt a physical presence that was wearing down on New York on both sides of the ball. By the end of the first half, he had 10 points (all dunks) to go along with six rebounds and a whopping five blocks, which was a career-high.

While Ware started the second half and played 10 minutes, even having an exciting windmill dunk, he didn't play any significant time in the final period, which included Miami losing their double-digit lead and eventually losing in overtime.


He ended up with 12 points, eight rebounds, and six blocks, and he spoke about Spoelstra's decision to not involve him for much of the second half.

“I mean, he’s the coach for a reason…and I’m a rookie, so I can’t say really say nothing about that,” Ware said. “His decision is his decision, and I’m gonna go with it.”

Heat's Erik Spoelstra explains decision involving Kel'el Ware

Miami Heat center Kel'el Ware (7) dunks against the New York Knicks during the third quarter at Kaseya Center.
Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Ware has been a mainstay in the Heat's starting lineup as of recently where he's in the frontcourt alongside captain Bam Adebayo, who scored 30 points in the loss to the Knicks. Spoelstra was asked if the decision to not play Ware was because of an injury concern, which he denied and attributed it to matching New York in terms of “perimeter stuff” as the opponent was trying to shoot more threes.

“No, he was fine…we're trying to match a little bit of the perimeter stuff,” Spoelstra said. “When we had a lead, I didn't want the threes…to get to us. It wasn't necessarily anything that he was doing. They're going to put…OG on Bam regardless.”

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The rookie had been in a bit of a slump in terms of his impact on the floor before Sunday's game, which even Ware mentioned after the loss. He acknowledged that he is “still learning” and is trying to get back to that portion earlier in the season where he was an unstoppable force.

“I mean, I'm still learning, a rookie, so I just want to get better at being…straight up, being tall, trying to affect the game,” Ware said. “And…defensively more than I have been a little bit, trying to get back to how I was at the beginning of the season, just trying to go for everything, affect everything, and try to get as many buckets as I can.”

Heat's Kel'el Ware on being benched in second half of win over Pacers

While Heat fans reacted positively to Ware's hot start against the Knicks, he had a different fate in the game before, which was Friday's win over the Indiana Pacers. After a forgettable first half, Spoelstra benched Ware in the second half in favor of Alec Burks as the first-year player told ClutchPoints it fueled him to come out Sunday and perform at a high level.

“I mean, yeah, every game…I sit back; I watch it; I try to learn from it and see where I can get better,” Ware said. “So, you know, it's a development process.”

At any rate, Miami still suffered the loss, and we'll see how Spoelstra plays Ware in the future with constant rotation changes. The Heat are 28-31, which puts them seventh in the Eastern Conference as they look to bounce back against Washington on Monday night.