Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
FILL-IN FOR ANY ROLE
Winslow’s versatility crucial during Heat’s injury-plagued start to season
MIAMI — The number of injuries the Miami Heat have dealt with during the first quarter of the season are enough to sink any team.
While 9-13 may not be an ideal record through 22 games, a major reason the Heat are remaining afloat is forward Justise Winslow’s jack-of-alltrades ability to fill in wherever needed.
Start off with James Johnson, Miami’s starting power forward. When he missed the season’s first 15 games recovering from sports hernia surgery, Winslow, although missing time due to a hamstring injury of his own, was there upon his return to step in for Johnson.
Just as James Johnson returned, guard Tyler Johnson, who serves as a primary ball handler with the second unit, went down. He misses six consecutive games, all while starting point guard Goran Dragic was out with a swollen right knee, Winslow was there to essentially run point with the second team.
Johnson is probable to return on Tuesday against the Orlando Magic, but as the Heat aim to finish off their four-game homestand with a third straight victory, Winslow may be called upon to fill another void. He could start at small forward as Rodney McGruder is questionable with a sprained right ankle.
“Regardless of position, I’ve been playing different roles my whole career, so just got to figure out a way, got to be able to adjust on the fly moment to moment.” —Heat forward Justise Winslow
Small forward seems to be the most natural fit for the 6-foot-7, 225-pound fourth-year player out of Duke, but he’s happy to slide into whatever role is necessary.
“I can do it all,” said Winslow, who this preseason agreed to a threeyear, $39 million extension with the Heat. “Everything’s pretty natural for me out there on the basketball court. I’ve been playing this game for a long time. Regardless of position, I’ve been playing different roles my whole career, so just got to figure out a way, got to be able to adjust on the fly moment to moment.”
Winslow, who the Heat selected 10th overall in the 2015 draft, is averaging 9.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and drawing tough defensive assignments while playing 27.4 minutes per game. Although he’s shooting 35.8 percent from the floor, he has scored in doubles figures four of the past six games, and the two times he didn’t, he had nine points.
“He’s embracing the type of player he needs to be for us,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said on Monday. “Impact, effort, toughness, defensive player, first and foremost. Secondly, he really can help especially with Goran out to get us organized offensively and get us into sets, and then make winning plays from there. But that’s really been the template, and he’s played to that the last three or four games.”
Winslow facilitating the offense, albeit with a sixturnover game in the loss to the Atlanta Hawks interjected in this run for him, is appreciated by teammates.
“They let me know when I’m out there that I make a lot of things easier for them,” Winslow said, “whether it’s trying to get Hassan [Whiteside] an easy layup under the basket, or trying to find a teammate for a spread. Or just being a beast defensively.”
Winslow’s impact of late is evident in a virtual dead-on split halfway through his 18 games played in his plus/minus. His first nine games, that stat was in the red seven times, with only a plus-1 one time and even a zero the other. In the nine games since, he’s had a positive plus/minus eight times — the only negative was the night LeBron James dropped 51 points on the Heat in landslide Los Angeles Lakers victory.
Winslow said Heat coaches actually pointed out to him the scoring disadvantages the team previously had when he was on the floor, and he worked to correct that.
“That was something that didn’t stick with me the right way. It’s something I wanted to change,” Winslow said. “Find a way to just make plays all over the court, whether it’s a loose ball, setting a good screen, defensively helping out a teammate. Just something that I want to make sure that I left the court with a positive impact.”
Winslow seeks to maintain that impactful play, wrapping up the homestand on Tuesday night before embarking on a six-game Western Conference road trip.