Mickey earns unexpected start vs Pacers
MIAMI — Erik Spoelstra’s Miami Heat wheel of lineups has stopped at a few unusual places over the years, once starting Dexter Pittman during a playoff game.
So reaching into his cupboard Saturday, his immediate answer for the injury absence of center Hassan Whiteside was to go with a player who did not even see action in Wednesday’s season-opening loss to the Orlando Magic.
Jordan Mickey, come on down.
“I was a little surprised,” Mickey understated, learning of the assignment after he had completed his pregame shooting prior to the 112-108 victory over the Indiana Pacers at AmericanAirlines Arena. “I knew Hassan was down and I had to be expecting probably a little more playing time, but I wasn’t really caught off guard by the start. I just wanted to be prepared and try to help my team the way I could.”
That he did, closing with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and six rebounds in his 13 minutes, 30 seconds.
The 23-year-old 6-foot-8 free agent added in the offseason actually had been there before, his lone previous NBA start coming last January for the Boston Celtics in a victory over the Washington Wizards, as Brad Stevens’ emergency replacement for Amir Johnson.
Heat forward Kelly Olynyk, who played alongside Mickey in Boston, said there was a déjà vu moment to Saturday’s lineup wrinkle.
“It says a lot about him. He’s always ready, always ready,” said Olynyk, who was moved back to the bench in the lineup twist. “I think he’s had that happen to him before in Boston, so I think Spo and Mr. Stevens have something in common, I guess. Brad Stevens prepared him for that, because he did it to him in Boston.”
Spoelstra said the move was made in part because he also wanted to get James Johnson into the starting lineup in Whiteside’s absence, while also shuffling Olynyk back to the second unit, where he had thrived early in the preseason.
“With Hassan out, I just didn’t feel like we could mess around,” said Spoelstra, whose team plays the second game of their season-longest six-game homestand Monday against the Atlanta Hawks. “J.J. needs to get out there and be out on the floor as many minutes as possible. I didn’t want to risk having him come off the bench. Since we’re bringing J.J. into that starting lineup, I wanted to have somebody to allow K.O. to play more with that second unit. I thought he was really comfortable there playing in that second unit. I think that was probably his best game on both ends since he’s been with us.
“So Jordan has been doing enough to impress us. They were short minutes just to get the game going. But those are always important minutes.”
Mickey said he had no issue playing up in weight class, having spent time as a de facto Celtics center, as well.
“I feel comfortable at whatever position he puts me at, whether he needs me to guard the bigs on the court or guard one of the smaller guys on the court,” he said. “That’s where the NBA is going now, bigger guys guarding small guys. So you’ve got to continue to grow with the game.”
For the time being, Mickey could find himself in a role similar to the placeholder spot Luke Babbitt held in last season’s starting lineup, when Babbitt averaged just 15.7 minutes despite starting. Of Mickey’s Saturday stats, four of his points and five of his rebounds came in his opening 6:59 stint.