Less minutes mean more for Dragic

CHICAGO — Erik Spoelstra has decided to reel in Goran Dragic. But there is nothing punitive about this early hook.

In order to keep the veteran guard fresher, Dragic and his coach have come up with a collective approach to reshuffle the Miami Heat rotation earlier in games.

“I went and spoke to Spo,” Dragic, 31, said. “I came to him and I told him that, ‘Maybe we should get back to last year, maybe playing the first four minutes, get out and then maybe come in with the second unit, just to break up a little bit those minutes, get some rest.’

“And, again, it feels like I’m fresher in the second half, fourth quarter. Whatever the team needs.”

Sunday, that had Dragic checking out and Tyler Johnson checking in with 4:56 to play in the opening period of the 100-93 victory over the Chicago Bulls at the United Center.

Spoelstra said it was a response to Dragic’s increasing minutes, after games when he had played 39, 38 and 37 minutes.

“There are a few different factors,” Spoelstra said. “For one, his minutes were starting to creep up. And every time I looked down, those minutes were 36, 37, 38. That’s not where I want him right now.

“So if we play him big minutes in the first half and then the game really gets competitive in the fourth quarter, then it’s tough to take him out. But even then I want to be more disciplined of getting him, regardless of what happens in the fourth quarter, two or three minutes of a rest in the fourth.”

Going into Sunday’s game, the only time Dragic had played 30 or fewer minutes has been last Sunday’s 25-point loss to the Indiana Pacers at AmericanAirlines Arena.

“I would like to keep his minutes closer to 30 and see if we can continue to do that,” Spoelstra said.

Dragic played 33 minutes, 41 seconds Sunday, leading the Heat with 24 points, shooting 7 of 11 from the field.

Dragic this season routinely has put up the bulk of his scoring stats early in games, with early rest possibly to have him fresher for finishes, when he often has yielded to Dion Waiters.

“Yeah, a little bit fatigued,” said Dragic, who also cited other factors for the discrepancy. “But then you need to realize that teams are preparing, especially when you’re hot on the first half, then they adjust.

“Usually, a lot of times they were blitzing screens, so I cannot force it. And we have such great guys who can make plays, Dion, JRich, K.O. It’s just what the game gives you.”

An ancillary factor with the approach then becomes who to play as the primary ballhandler, with the Heat lacking a true backup point guard.

“Our second unit has been a little bit more of group handle. And that’s their comfort level. I’m getting more comfortable with that,” Spoelstra said of responsibilities shared by Waiters, Josh Richardson, Tyler Johnson, James Johnson and Kelly Olynyk. “But we’re getting much more specific on which actions we run. So we know what the package of sets we’re trying to get to, and each set sometimes will have a different ballhandler. That’s OK.

“Now, when we’ve been playing Dion with that second unit, he’ll tend to handle a little bit more, but the offense may run through K.O. during that time. So there’s different factors to it. I think that makes us more dynamic. But the commitment to the specific package is really what’s more important than who’s handling the ball. We tend to get really random if we get away from that package.”

PAUL BEATY/AP Erik Spoelstra says he would like to keep Goran Dragic’s, right, minutes down to around 30 per game right now.