Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Winslow shakes off rust
Forward also hosts holiday talent show for students
MIAMI — For Justise Winslow, these waning days of December have become about rust and recognition, as in working off the rust of a 16-game absence and recognizing that a lot changed with the Miami Heat while he was dealing with his sore left wrist.
When it came to regaining his rhythm, the secondyear forward called Friday’s 102-98 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers a step forward.
“I got in a better rhythm,” he said, as the Heat turned their focus to today’s game against the Boston Celtics at AmericanAirlines Arena, the fourth game on his season-longest six-game homestand. “But a lot of it was defensively I felt like I was out there helping the team, talking more, helping guys get in the right spot. So just defensively, offensively being more vocal, helping guys get in the flow, myself get in the flow.
“I felt a little bit better, but there are still things I can definitely improve on.”
Statistically, it was a significant upgrade from Wednesday’s return in the victory over the Indiana Pacers, when he was limited to two points on 1-of-5 shooting, two rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes. This time there were 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting and four rebounds in 29 minutes.
“People are just looking at stats,” guard Goran Dragic said. “He’s doing plays that you cannot see in stats, and that’s huge for the team. He can defend multiple positions. He can organize us. And he can find people. So that’s a unique talent.”
Just as unique Friday was a lineup twist amid Hassan Whiteside’s foul trouble that found Winslow at power forward and James Johnson at center. The alignment gave the Heat a pair of players equally capable of defending on the perimeter as in the post.
“It’s a good ways into the season, and we still haven’t really played with each other that much, so we’re still figuring things out,” Winslow said. “J.J. at the five, me at the four, it’s kind of our first time really doing it. With all the injuries, we’re trying to kind of do things on the fly in the game and we don’t have many bodies to practice with and that sort of thing.
“We’re still trying to figure out how to play with each other on the fly, but we’re definitely deadly offensively and defensively when we’re out there on the floor.”
The Heat, in fact, went all but three seconds of Friday’s fourth period with Winslow playing alongside Johnson, a quarter the Heat limited the Clippers to 6-of-18 shooting, with Blake Griffin scoreless. Winslow scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting over those 12 minutes, including a 3-pointer that drew the Heat within four with 22 seconds to play.
“It felt good in the moment,” he said of the shot that came in an encouraging rhythm, still 7 of 29 on 3-pointers this season. “We were coming back. That helped us out. But just seeing the bigger picture, we’ve got to do a lot of things better.”
With the Heat having started Josh McRoberts at power forward and Rodney McGruder at small forward the past eight games, Winslow’s uptick could provide Erik Spoelstra with an alternative. As it was, Winslow’s 15 points matched his second-highest scoring total as a reserve, surpassed only by the 20 he scored off the bench last March against the Denver Nuggets.
“I felt a little better, still figuring things out, getting used to playing against actual defense,” he said.
And, with that, Winslow decided Saturday would be a good time to “clear my mind,” hosting a holiday talent event for 25 fifthand sixth-graders in conjunction with Robin’s House Family Foundation, with first- through fourthgraders invited to watch.
“Just as much as giving back, it’s a way for me to clear my mind and get away from the game for a couple of hours,” he said. “I like kids. I like playing around with them, seeing them have fun. Hopefully it becomes something we can do annually.
“A lot of them have never been on a stage or anything like that. But they like to dance, they like to sing, like to do all those type of things.”