Coach: Minutes are not indicative of lineup change

MIAMI — The approach might have indicated otherwise, but Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Monday that the limited minutes for James Johnson and Rodney McGruder in Saturday’s victory over the Memphis Grizzlies are not an indication of a potential lineup change.

“We’ve had a lot of games where it’s different guys on different nights,” Spoelstra said on the practice court at AmericanAirlines Arena. “I’ve said it time and time again, it takes an emotionally stable team, a mindful team to understand the big picture that it’s not a cliché — the strength of our roster is our depth and our versatility, and we fully intend on using that.

“And to be able to fully utilize depth, that means it’s different guys sometimes in different minutes.”

McGruder and Johnson both played 13:41 against the Grizzlies, their action limited to their opening stints at the start of the first and third quarters.

“I think both lineups since December 1 have played well for most of the minutes,” Spoelstra said of his two units. “And there’s been good continuity in both lineups, consistency in lineups. There might be some game-to-game guys in and out of the lineups, but there’s usually a consistency of at least three of the four guys.”

The minutes, however, have remained uneven for Dion Waiters in his six games back after missing the first 35 of the season. There was only 9:44 of action against the Grizzlies, after being utilized for 11, 25 and 20 minutes in his three previous appearances.

“My big word for him is patience,” Spoelstra said. “But I like the work that’s been putting in, and the minutes that he’s played have been good and important for us.”

The patience part, Waiters said, has not be easy. “Sometimes in the games, I either play or I don’t,” he said. “So just being ready. It’s kind of hard to wrap your mind around that because I haven’t been in a situation like that before. Now I’m just trying to stay positive with that whole thing.

“I got to just try to figure out and try to control my emotions when things aren’t going my way and stuff like that, just trying to figure it out and be positive when in that situation. Is it tough? Absolutely. I’m a competitor at the end of the day. The only thing is I want to be out there with my guys and I want to play. I feel like I can help the team.”

Waiters said the best way to accelerate his return is to accelerate the playing time.

“I think you need to be out there to speed the process up more, so I get acclimated faster,” he said. “But that’s not my job. I just go out there and be ready and do what I can do in however much time I’m out there.”