IN THE LANE

FAIR GAME: Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said he did not think twice when assistant coach Caron Butler requested to miss Wednesday night’s game in Portland in order to attend Dirk Nowitzki’s jersey retirement by the Dallas Mavericks. Butler was part of Nowitzki’s 2011 NBA championship team, but was sidelined in the playoffs, including the NBA Finals against the Heat, due to a knee injury.“We can tip our hats to that team. It was really an example of a group coming together and being bigger and greater than the sum of their parts. And Caron was a big part of that, even though he was injured during that playoff run,” Spoelstra said. “He was still, and it does not surprise, a heart and soul of that group. We sat down and talked about it a few weeks ago, about him going to that. I told him, ‘You got to do it.’ I just said, ‘I love you like a brother. We’ve known each other forever, since I was an assistant coach.’ I let him know that’s my least-favorite team of all time, for obvious reasons. But also, as a competitor, deep respect for that group.”

RESPECT GIVEN: In the wake of the burgeoning friendship between Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard and Heat center Bam Adebayo at the Olympics, Lillard also offered hearty respect to the Heat way when counseling Anfernee Simons during Wednesday’s matchup between the teams. After an uneven first half against the Heat, Simons recounted to The Oregonian a conversion with Lillard. “I just kind of asked Dame, ‘What would you do in this situation, what do you see?’ ” Simons said. “He said early in the game that Miami is a very good defensive team and that they are going to give me a lot of looks. They’re going to make you try to make as many plays as possible. It’s gonna take you away from being aggressive. You’re going to look up and you won’t be as aggressive as you think you have been.”The counsel helped, with Simons coming around to score 22 of his 28 points in the second half.

WAITING GAME: As midseason approaches, the Lakers still are waiting to see what they have in Kendrick Nunn, with the former Heat guard still battling back from a series of preseason injuries. Based on the Lakers’ uneven run, the hope is Nunn can be a difference maker as a complement to LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis.“Got to throw him into the mix and see what he looks like in our system before we can make any real determinations about what his role is going to be,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “But we love what his game is: shoot the three, to play-make in the pickand-roll game, and also to be a second side attacker when you have ‘Bron, Russ and AD with the basketball. So he’s a talented young man and someone we really think can help us.”The Lakers added Nunn as a free agent at the mid-level exception. “Kendrick’s going to get a ton of minutes when he gets back healthy,”Vogel said.“It’s going to be at the expense of somebody else, at least for that time being, to see how he fits in our system along with our stars. All that stuff will play out.”

AS THE PROTOCOL TURNS: NBA health-and-safety protocols have proven to be the ultimate winding road for former Heat guard Tyler Johnson. First he was added as an emergency 10-day replacement by the Philadelphia 76ers amid their COVID depletion, averaging 12 minutes in three appearances. Then he found himself in protocols, with his deal allowed to expire. Now, with the San Antonio Spurs among the latest teams ravaged by protocols, Johnson has landed a 10-day contract on Gregg Popovich’s roster.