With Butler doubtful to face Bucks, ‘It’s everybody’s job’ to fill the void
The Heat will most likely be without Jimmy Butler
when it begins its twogame mini series against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Coach Erik Spoelstra
on Monday said Butler is doubtful for Tuesday’s game against the Bucks. Spoelstra said everyone else practiced Monday.
Butler, the Heat’s AllStar wing, did not play in the second half of the Heat’s 111-98 win against the New Orleans Pelicans on Christmas Day because of right ankle stiffness. Even with three days off since that game, Spoelstra and the Heat feels Butler still needs more time to recover and that the team is taking things “day by day” with Butler, hinting that Butler could miss additional time.
“Every player and every injury is different,” Spoelstra said. “We’re treating this the way we think is right.”
But Butler’s absence is not lost on teammates, nor is the understanding that they will have to pick up the production with him out.
“It’s everybody,” forward Bam Adebayo said. “Once a player goes out, it isn’t one or two people’s jobs to cover for that one person. It’s everybody’s job to figure out how we can adapt without having that person in the lineup. The lineup that’s going to be out there [Tuesday], that’s the lineup that has to do more because Jimmy’s not out there.”
Guard Tyler Herro
added: “Everything we do is through Jimmy. He’s a big key for us. It’s just next man up until he gets back.”
Who might that “next man up” be? Spoelstra still has options.
Among those: Re-inserting guard Kendrick Nunn back into the starting lineup or utilizing KZ Okpala after his strong performance in the preseason.
Nunn started 67 games for the Heat last season while averaging 15.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists en route to being the runner-up for NBA Rookie of the Year. He played just eight minutes in the Heat’s season-opening loss to the Orlando Magic and saw no action against the Pelicans.
“It just takes the right circumstances,” Spoelstra said of Nunn while adding that he’s “really comfortable” with the guard. “We are deep. Everybody has to stay ready. And it requires
some sacrifice, but particularly with what we’re trying to get accomplished this year, you need really good players. And K-Nunn is a really good player. He’s got a great knack for scoring and putting the ball in the basket.”
Okpala, meanwhile, spent the majority of last season with the Heat’s G League affiliate. He won a roster spot this year after a strong run in the preseason, including a 24-point outburst in their preseason finale Dec. 18 against the Toronto Raptors. Okpala did not play in either of the Heat’s first two regularseason games.
“That’s all part of learning the league and learning how to break through and earn a consistent role,” Spoelstra said of Okpala potentially getting his chance. “Usually it’s playing a specific role: defending, playing with energy, helping the offense function. And then you earn more opportunities from there. KZ’s fully in that process right now. He’s had some stacking up more consistent days and really good practice days. And then our last memory of him in a game [in the preseason] was very good. So he just has to compete to commit to that process.”
THIS AND THAT
Spoelstra on the bene● fits of getting having three days off between games early in the season, a luxury they won’t have again at least in the first half of the regular season: “Anytime you have an opportunity to get a couple days of work, you have an opportunity to improve as a team. Every
day, you have opportunities but when you have quality practice time which there won’t be an extreme amount more of these as the season goes on but these are two good days for our team.
Spoelstra also noted that “you need to adjust [to the limited practice time between games] and at least we’re all on an even playing field so it’s all relative. If you have a day in be
tween, you still have an opportunity to improve and it might not be a training camp practice, but you can get some things accomplished even when you have games.
“You just have to balance everything depending on on how heavy the game load is.”