Strus back from injury, knows role: ‘I’m here to shoot the ball’
When Max Strus landed awkwardly after going up for a dunk late in the Heat’s win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Oct. 30, he feared the worst.
“I was nervous, for sure, just because of my history,” said Strus, who tore the ACL in his left knee less than two years ago in December 2019. “But the medical team here and all the trainers did a good job of reassuring me that it wasn’t going to be that. You’re always nervous going in to get an MRI because you never know what’s going to pop up. But luckily nothing was too bad.
“I obviously don’t want to keep missing games, so I wanted to get back as soon as possible.”
Strus, 25, ended up missing five games and returned two weeks after an MRI revealed a sprained left knee. He played in his third game since returning from injury when the Heat closed its five-game West Coast trip against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.
Strus has shown some signs of rust, as he shot 3 of 10 from three-point range and committed three turnovers in his first two games back in his usual bench role. He was responsible for only two turnovers in the first six games he appeared in this season before injuring his knee.
“I need to get conditioned,” Strus said. “I haven’t been able to run a lot. So I need to get my wind back. Things are just a little fast. So I just got to find my rhythm again. That will come with just playing, so I’ll be back in no time.”
Building back stamina is a lot easier coming off a two-week absence than the one-year hiatus Strus had to deal with after tearing his ACL.
In fact a year ago, Strus was a free agent just looking
for a job in the NBA after undergoing seasonending knee surgery in December 2019. He split his rookie season in 201920 between the Chicago Bulls and their G League affiliate, appearing in only two NBA games with the Bulls before he was sidelined.
Fast forward a year later, and Strus has not only found a new NBA home with the Heat, but he’s also a consistent member of Miami’s bench rotation.
“It’s crazy to think where it’s gone,” said Strus, who went undrafted out of DePaul in 2019. “But I believe in myself
and put the work in. I’m happy where I’m at. Things are working out the way I want them to. Everything has been great so far. I’ll continue to put the work in and keep continuing along this journey.”
Strus signed a two-year minimum deal with the Heat this past offseason after playing in Miami on a two-way contract last season.
“It’s just about continuing this journey of my basketball career. I’m not done yet,” Strus said. “But it’s just about meeting all the goals that I set for myself and just keep making strides along the way. I’m not going to stop. I’m happy where I’m at here. I’m in a good position and I just want to keep going.”
All while understanding that the Heat needs him to play the role of floor spacer. Strus entered Monday shooting 35.3 percent from threepoint range on 4.3 attempts per game this season, and 79.1 percent of his shots have been threes.
“That’s what I’m here to do,” he said. “Absolutely, I’m here to shoot the ball and that’s what I worked on all summer. I know I can do more. But my elite skill in the league is going to be shooting, so I got to keep getting better at it and that’s where I’m going to make strides.”
INJURY REPORT
The Heat was without stars Bam Adebayo and
Jimmy Butler on Monday against the Thunder.
The Heat was without Butler for the third straight game because of a sprained right ankle. But Monday marked the first game during Miami’s West Coast trip that Adebayo missed because of a left knee bruise.
The hope is that Butler will be able to return when the Heat returns home to face the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday. And it seems that the team is simply taking a proactive approach with Adebayo’s lingering knee bruise.
“Our schedule has been pretty intensive and he hasn’t had any opportunity for it to really get better,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of Adebayo before Monday’s game. “It hasn’t gotten worse, but he hasn’t gotten better. So we’ll just continue to treat him and evaluate him.”
The Heat was also without Marcus Garrett (right wrist tendinitis)
Victor Oladipo (right knee injury recovery) and
(whiplash).