Winslow’s versatility welcome amid host of injuries.
Small forward takes on multiple roles in absence of Wade, Whiteside
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Justise Winslow saw two voids, so he attempted to fill both.
With Hassan Whiteside and Dwyane Wade sidelined for what turned into Monday night’s 115-99 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center, Winslow made his best effort to compensate on dual levels.
No Whiteside? So 13 rebounds, a season high, matching his career high.
No Wade? A take-charge approach in the 18-2 rally that brought the Heat within three of the Blazers in the fourth quarter before it went sour in what turned into the Heat’s eighth consecutive road loss.
“He was facilitating, getting us organized into offense and then when it was time to be aggressive, he dropped his shoulder and got to the rim a few times,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, as the Heat shifted their attention to tonight’s game against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center, the second stop of this three-game trip. “He probably could have drawn a couple of fouls — a lot of contact on those drives. But he’s been doing that. He’s been trending that way recently.
“The 13 rebounds were notable and defensively he was in the right spots in the second half. But then you also noticed him when he had to take on the [defensive] challenge with their two main guys.”
The multiple efforts will be required again with both Whiteside and Wade out, Whiteside with the hip pain that has had him out the past two games, Wade with the hamstring strain that sidelined him Monday.
Winslow said playing as a facilitator in Wade’s absence is no different than the ease with which Wayne Ellington plays his natural shooting guard or Kelly Olynyk plays power forward. He scored 10 of the Heat’s 27 fourth-quarter points, with a pair of blocked shots in the period.
“Just another game,” he said. “It’s like Wayne playing shooting guard, KO playing power forward. It’s just our position. So it’s something I feel comfortable with.
“The guys believe in me and trust me to get them in the right spots. We got into a pretty good flow in the second half, just came up a little too short.”
Only Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic, with his 16 rebounds, had more than Winslow.
“Defensively,” Winslow said, “we try to end each possession with a rebound. So guys were out there battling. I think Nurkic was killing us. Early on I just had a mentality of trying to get as many rebounds as possible and get out and run.
“Goran [Dragic] was doing a good job of running with that first unit. So I knew it would be open if we could get some stops and get some rebounds. No matter who is on the floor for us, I’m going to try and do my job and get as many rebounds as possible. They were just falling my way.”
Bam’s bounces
Monday night was an uneven experience, at best, for rookie center Bam Adebayo in place of Whiteside, closing his 13th start 1 of 10 from the field, with four points and nine rebounds, compared to 27 and 16 for Nurkic.
“There’s a lot of elements to that,” Spoelstra said of Monday’s schooling. “It’s having the resilience to play through some things. He had a rough start at the beginning, gave up a quick foul on a bucket, missed a chippy, and then he missed a chippy and then he missed probably three or four in the paint that he normally makes.
“Well, who cares? Get on to the next play. And things happen and you have to be able to move on. And there’s a lot of moving parts pretty quickly in [Monday’s] game, in our pick-and-roll coverage and then going back to a very capable big who can score. Yeah, I’m not concerned about Bam. He’ll process all of this and be better the next time.”