Waiters: ‘Just sticking up for my teammate’

CLEVELAND — Miami Heat guard Dion Waiters says he has no history with Cleveland’s J.R. Smith and said before Monday’s game he did not believe there would be any carryover from the incident at the end of Saturday’s Heat victory over the Cavs in Miami.

“Listen, man, when you come from that kind of stuff, this stuff here is all acting,” Waiters said following the Heat shoot-around.

“I come from that. Why would I waste my time? Nothing is going to escalate. You got a bunch of security guys who will hold you back. It’s not going to go nowhere.

“When’s the last time there were a real fight in the NBA? We’re grown.”

Waiters added he thought Smith “overreacted for no r e a s o n . ” S mi t h , i n j u r e d and on the bench in street clothes, reacted angrily to Rodney McGruder’s dunk over Channing Frye with just more than a minute remaining in Miami’s 120-92 victory. McGruder’s right arm came down on Frye’s back, an act that appeared to be unintentional.

S mi t h j u mped u p a n d s t a r t e d s c r e a m i n g a t Mc Gr u d e r. A s t h e c l o c k w o u n d d o w n , Wa i t e r s approached the Cavaliers bench and got into a heated exchange with Smith.

“I was sticking up for my teammate,” Waiters said. “That’s all. All that other stuff is irrelevant. There’s nothing there. I never had a problem with that man. It’s basketball.

“I’m sticking up for my teammate like I’m supposed to. I think he could have handled it differently.”

Heat met with free agent forward Sullinger: Free agent for ward Jared Sullinger met with the Heat in recent days, making Chris Bosh’s roster spot again a topic of conversation. The Heat’s 15-man roster is full, so releasing Bosh and starting the process of removing his contract from their books is one way to make room for an addition like Sullinger.

S ul l i nger, 2 5, s i g ned a one-year, $6 million contract with Toronto last summer but missed the first 41 games with a foot injury. After playing in just 11 games for the Raptors this season, he was traded last month to the Suns — along with two second-round picks — for P.J. Tucker.

The Suns released Sullinger the next day, and he is eligible to play in the playoffs since he was released before the March 1 playoff-eligibility waiver deadline.

The Heat’s meeting with Sullinger was considered due diligence, as there is nothing imminent at this time. But he could be an option down the road.

Sullinger, who was drafted by the Celtics with the 21st overall pick in the 2012 draft, averaged 3.4 points on 31.9 percent shooting and 2.5 rebounds in his short stint with Toronto this season. He was much more effective in Boston, averaging 11.1 points on 43.9 percent shooting and 7.7 rebounds per game over his first four NBA seasons — all spent with the Celtics.

Weight issues have proven to be an ongoing obstacle for Sullinger over his NBA career. In a Sunday article in the Boston Herald, Sullinger’s father, Satch Sullinger, said his 6-foot-9 son weighed “somewhere north of 315 pounds” during last season’s playoffs.