For Ellington, home is where the Heat is
PHILADELPHIA Wayne Ellington secured his first playoff victory even before the Miami Heat took the court Saturday night to face the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 1 of the teams’ opening-round best-of-seven series.
Because homecourt advantage belongs to the Heat’s 3-point specialist.
“I knew it was a possibility,” the Philadelphia native said after Saturday’s shootaround at Temple University. “And all my family was like, ‘Oh, you might be coming to Philly, you might be coming to Philly for the playoffs.’ I said, ‘It’s up in the air right now, but I sure do hope so.’”
And then the Heat beat the Toronto Raptors in overtime Wednesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. And then the Milwaukee Bucks lost that night in Philadelphia. And now here is Ellington, the first meaningful playoff moments of his career coming at home.
“It makes it unbelievable, honestly,” he gushed. “I’ve been saying it, but you can’t really script something like that. It’s crazy that it happened like this. But I think there’s a reason that it happened like this.”
Over his nine-season career, Ellington has been to the playoffs only once, in 2014 with the Dallas Mavericks, when he played 14 minutes of mop-up duty.
But now it’s for real ... including a personal, but personally limited rooting section at Wells Fargo Center.
“I limited my tickets to 25,” he said. “So I’m not going over 25. This is what I have. I’m telling my family and friends that you guys got to work with it, you decide.”
Nor is he getting involved with the guest list.
“I let my mom work out the upside,” he said. “I let my mom work out the family. I selected my friends that I want to come. So, the closest people to me.”
And, yes, he is paying — to an uncertain degree.
“Hopefully I get some help,” he said. “But I’m sure I’ll be paying for some.”
Potentially with his impending free-agent contract easing that pain.
“I hope so. I hope God willing,” he said.
Ellington said he wasn’t as much a 76ers fan growing up as a fan of a certain 76er.
“I was more of an A.I. fan than a Sixer fan,” he said. ‘I grew up watching A.I. on Comcast every night or every other night. It was amazing what he did for the culture and Philly. He brought a lot of people together. I’m a big Allen Iverson fan, but I’m sure so. he’ll be there the 76ers. So other side.”
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said he can appreciate the meaning of the moment.
“He’s one of those type of individuals that you want his story to play out this way, because he’s pure and is all about the right things,” he said. “He has a great energy about him. If this was in somebody else’s hometown, he’d be the first one to enjoy someone else’s opportunity and success. And that’s why everybody wants to breathe life into him and his game.
“It’s great, I know it probably means something to him, but he’s also levelheaded to know that there’s a task at hand and you can’t get distracted by the storyline. He’s mentally stable enough to grasp all of that.” rooting he’s on for the challenge of this series, Spoelstra has enlisted a pair beyond his playoff roster.
“At different times, we had Derrick Jones Jr. yesterday. Then today, when it was a little bit slower, we had Juwan,” Spoelstra said Saturday.
Jones, because of his two-way contract that had him splitting time this season between the Heat and G League, is ineligible for the 15-play playoff roster.
“I just, to watch as much film as possible on him and see if I can make my teammates better,” the 6-7 athletic wing said of offering his best impersonation of Simmons during practice. “I mean, just trying to attack as much as possible, getting them as much prepared as we need to be.”
Then there is Howard, the 6-9, 45-year-old former All-Star forward who retired from the NBA after the 2013 NBA Finals with the Heat.
“Juwan could still play,” Spoelstra said. “He could still play 8 to 10 minutes. I say that all the time. He and [assistant coach] Chris Quinn still take the bodyfat test and they will take that to their grave I’m sure. They’re ready to roll.”
iwinderman@sunsentinel .com, Twitter @iraheatbeat, facebook.com/ ira.winderman