Nunn able to offer plenty as a reserve
Kendrick Nunn made his Heat playoff debut Monday, coming off the bench while Jimmy Butler was dealing with a shoulder strain.
Of the pillars of success that Erik Spoelstra has set as a foundation for this season’s Miami Heat, one in particular resonated in the locker room after closing out the 4-0 firstround sweep of the Indiana Pacers: “Enjoy someone else’s success.”
In this case, the moment turned celebration of Kendrick Nunn.
Out of the rotation for the first three games of the series and twice out of view at Disney World — once after a positive COVID-19 test, another time due to a departure for a personal reason — the rookie guard got his chance in Monday’s victory while Jimmy Butler was dealing with a shoulder strain.
“The veterans, all the way down the line to the bench, the staff, everybody was just telling me to stay ready,” Nunn said after a 14-minute stint that included seven points, three rebounds and two assists.
To a degree, it almost was as if the moment meant more to center Bam Adebayo, who had uneven moments of his own during his 2017-18 rookie season.
“I’m proud of him,” Adebayo said. “I’ve really been talking to him a little bit, telling him to stay locked in because you never know into
awhen your time could be.
“I was just sharing stories of how my rookie year was, when Spo would put me in for 30 seconds and I wouldn’t play the rest of the game.
“I’m truly proud of that kid staying locked in. He didn’t get discouraged by his situation.” Monday marked the first time Nunn played as a reserve in the NBA, after starting all 67 of his regular-season appearances.
“It has been tough for him mentally,” teammate Jae Crowder said. “He was in the rotation all year.”
And good enough to be named one of three finalists for NBA Rookie of the Year, along with 2019 No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson and presumptive winner Ja Morant.
“We’re happy for him because you never know when his name was going to be called,” Butler said. “But the pro that he is, the way he’s been paying attention to the game plan, the way he’s still been working on his game, he was ready. That’s all you can ask of our young guys. I think he did a great job of coming in and doing exactly what he’s been doing all year long.
“We’re happy for him. And you never know what that did for him in Coach’s mind.”
What it did was confirm to
Nunn was ready when called.
“It was so great to see that and to see everybody’s response to him getting in there,” Spoelstra said. “We knew that it was a matter of time before he was going to have some kind of opportunity to get in there.”
Fellow rookie Tyler Herro made the return seamless, with an assist on Nunn’s first basket, a 3-pointer on his first playoff shot.
“My first look was a swing from Tyler,” Nunn said. “He swung it to me; I knocked it down. I told him, ‘Thanks for walking me to the park.’ ”
Spoelstra that
Statement time
Adebayo said the Heat’s time off will allow for further discussion of systemic racism, noting the shooting of Jacob Blake.
“We get time to actually spread awareness on Jacob Blake,” he said. “I feel like everybody’s seen the shooting of it, and it gives us time to really hone in and really emphasize on police brutality at this time.
“Just seeing that video is — it’s ridiculous. Somebody has to be held accountable when stuff like that happens. Somebody has to be held accountable and that’s the end of the story.”