Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Ellington acts as ‘ultimate wide receiver’
MIAMI — The game clock wasn’t stopping, requiring two overtimes to decide a winner. The scoreboard wasn’t stopping, the 149-141 victory over the Denver Nuggets establishing a Miami Heat record for points. And Wayne Ellington wasn’t stopping, as relentless in running to his 3-pointer to start the second extra period as he was for his previous 10 launches.
By the time it was over, Ellington was at 23 points on 6-of-11 shooting on 3-pointers in 40 minutes, 25 seconds.
“Wayne was flying off screens,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Those are not easy plays to defend.”
Spoelstra had Ellington on the court for all but 10 seconds of the two extra periods, with Ellington in motion just about the entire time.
“I think he had one spotup three,” Spoelstra said. “Literally every other three is the Ray Allen, Reggie Miller specialty, running off a thousand screens, as fast as he possibly can, stopping on a dime, both guys contesting and raising. And he probably had three or four different defenders on him throughout the course of the game.
“But he never stops running. He’s the ultimate wide receiver. He’ll run 20 routes, knowing 15 of them are going to be decoys, but every single one of ’em looks like the real deal. And as soon as you relax for one count, that’s when he gets you.”
Spoelstra said Ellington was rebuilt for such a moment, having bought into the Heat’s rigorous conditioning program since his July 2016 free-agency arrival.
“The overwhelming majority of, particularly young players, simply won’t put in that type of work to become that type of movement, catch-and-shoot player,” Spoelstra said before turning his attention to tonight’s game against the New York Knicks at AmericanAirlines Arena. “It takes too much effort, takes way too much conditioning for most people.”
Once Ellington got on a run, the mileage became secondary.
“It’s fun,” he said. “We didn’t exactly want it to be like this. But these are the types of games that show your character, get us ready for the postseason. I’m sure it will come in handy having a game like this.”
The Heat closed 20 of 36 on 3-pointers against the Nuggets, just about all needed, with Denver 18 of 38 from beyond the arc.