MIAMI – With the Miami Heat showcasing a fully healthy roster in Wednesday's 106-103 NBA Cup group win over the Milwaukee Bucks, there were massive changes to the starting lineup and bench rotations. Though Heat star Kel'el Ware was in the midst of an impressive streak while in the starting lineup, he would be relegated to the bench, but that didn't demotivate the 22-year-old in the win.

With Herro playing his second straight game since his injury and surgery, and the returns of Norman Powell and Andrew Wiggins, head coach Erik Spoelstra decided to bench Ware. Still, that didn't deter Ware in the win over the Bucks, as he made a huge impact in the second unit, scoring 11 points on four of six shooting from the field to go along with nine rebounds, two steals, and a block.

Also sporting a team-leading +16 on the floor, Ware impacted the game when out there, which Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints that he doesn't take Ware “for granted,” knowing that it's hard to go from playing well in the starting unit to being benched.

“He was very good, and I don't take that for granted,” Spoelstra said. “For a young player, it's not easy to go from coming off the bench and then starting and then playing well and then going back to the bench, but he handles it well, and I think that's important, that’s part of his development.”

“You continue to have an approach every day to get better and then to understand that it's about a team concept, and there will be a level of sacrifice that will be required for our team to reach its potential,” Spoelstra continued.

Heat's Bam Adebayo speaks on Kel'el Ware's development

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

As the Heat have been seeing Ware improve game-by-game, showing out recently after an up-and-down start, Ware had been on a streak of nine-straight games recording double-digit rebounds, especially displaying an increased intensity before Wednesday. He even had double-doubles in seven of his last eight games before the win over the Bucks, but if there had been a constant in those games compared to Wednesday, he impacted winning.

Someone who echoed the same sentiment is team captain Bam Adebayo, a known mentor of Ware, saying that if he didn't play the way he did against the Bucks, Miami would have lost. He was crucial in stopping the success rate of Milwaukee when Myles Turner kept switching off Adebayo for a smaller defender when Ware was off the floor.

“It might not be 20 and 18 every night, but you know that 11 and nine that he had tonight was impactful, like it impacted winning, and that's the biggest thing about it,” Adebayo said. “He was a +16. That's the thing I hate about stats, because when they go ‘He only had 11 and nine, ‘ they think it's not impactful, but that was a loud 11 and nine that we needed. He doesn't get 11 and nine, we lose the game. And that's how I kind of think about it. So like I said, he's young. He's still figuring it out, but he can still impact winning if it's not loud numbers.”

At any rate, Ware's role with the Heat will evolve as the next opportunity is on Saturday against the Detroit Pistons.