Heat fans will have plenty to watch during All-Star Weekend
INDIANAPOLIS
The Miami Heat is in the middle of an eight-day break in its schedule, but a few players on the Heat’s roster will be busy this weekend.
The Heat, which has won six of its past eight games and enters the All-Star break with a 30-25 record, will be represented by Bam Adebayo, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Cole Swider and Alondes Williams at AllStar Weekend in Indianapolis.
It all begins Friday with the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game and Rising Stars event, continues with AllStar Saturday Night and ends Sunday with the NBA All-Star Game.
Here’s an All-Star Weekend viewing guide for Heat fans:
FRIDAY
Rising Stars (9 p.m., TNT): The Heat will be represented by two players in this event at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, as Jaquez and Williams are among the participants. The Rising Stars showcase features select NBA rookies and sophomores, and NBA G League players competing in a fourteam mini-tournament with all three games played to a Final Target Score.
Jaquez was drafted by Hall of Famer Pau Gasol onto Team Pau, and Gasol will serve as the squad’s honorary coach. Williams is on the G League team that will be coached by former NBA player Detlef Schrempf.
All three games in the mini-tournament will be played to a Final Target Score, which means each game will end on a made basket or free throw rather than time expiring.
The two semifinal games — Game 1 and Game 2 — will be played to a Final Target Score of 40.
The final game, featuring the winners of Games 1 and 2, will be played to a Final Target Score of 25 to determine the tournament champion.
“Very excited,” Jaquez said of his Rising Stars opportunity. “This is a game that’s a part of AllStar Weekend. I know a lot of great players have been to that game. So just to be a part of that and be able to participate is an honor.”
SATURDAY
Slam Dunk Contest (final event of All-Star Saturday night, which begins at 8 p.m. on TNT): The Heat will be represented by Jaquez on All-Star Saturday Night at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Jaquez is one of four participants going for the NBA’s Slam Dunk crown this year, along with Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics, Jacob Toppin of the New York Knicks and Mac McClung of the G League’s Osceola Magic. McClung is the defending Slam Dunk Contest champion.
“I think it’s going to be a big opportunity,” Jaquez said of the chance to compete in the Slam
Dunk Contest. “I know for myself, it’s something I always wanted to do as a kid. So to be able to have that moment and be able to participate is a huge opportunity.”
The four dunkers will compete in the two-round contest, with five judges scoring each dunk from 40 to 50. The average of the five judges’ scores will be the individual dunk score.
Round 1 will include two dunks for each of the four participants, and the two players with the highest composite score for those two dunks will advance to the final round.
The two players who make it to the final round will get two more dunks, and the participant with the highest final round composite score will be crowned the Slam Dunk champion.
SUNDAY
G League Up Next Game (1:30 p.m., NBA TV): Swider and Williams, two of the Heat’s three two-way contract players, will represent the organization in the G League showcase event held at the Indiana Convention Center. Both players have excelled for the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, this season.
“It’s an honor to be recognized for how you’re playing and the year that you’ve had,” Swider said. “I’m really excited to go out there. And any time you go out there and play, it’s an honor. I’m going to hit these guys up, I’m going to support Jaime in the Dunk Contest and Rising Stars Game. I’m excited. It’s going to be a cool thing to be a part of.”
The NBA G League Up Next Game features four teams of seven G League players competing in two semifinal games. The winner of each semifinal will face off in the championship game. Swider and Williams are on different teams.
Swider, 24, has averaged 24.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game while shooting 44.4 percent on 10.1 threepoint attempts per game in 16 appearances for the Skyforce this season.
Williams, 24, has averaged 20 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 37.8 percent on 5.8 three-point attempts per game in 34 appearances for the Skyforce this season.
All-Star Game (8 p.m., TNT): Adebayo will represent the Heat as an Eastern Conference AllStar reserve in the main event of the weekend, which will take place at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
It marks the second straight season that Adebayo has been named an All-Star and the third time he has been selected as an All-Star in his seven NBA seasons.
There’s even a chance that Adebayo could end up starting for the East team in Sunday’s All-Star game, with All-Star starter Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers unable to play because a knee injury.
“High level of respect, obviously, just because the coaches pick you,” Adebayo said of being voted into the All-Star Game as a reserve, which is a group the head coaches select. “It’s not the usual, you let the fans pick most of them. But the coaches pick you. Having coaches who scheme against you, obviously, and have to coach against you, there’s just a respect value there and I really appreciate that.”
Anthony Chiang: 305-376-4991, @Anthony_Chiang
Boston
New York Philadelphia Brooklyn Toronto Southeast
Miami Orlando Atlanta Charlotte Washington Central
Cleveland Milwaukee Indiana Chicago Detroit
Southwest
New Orleans Dallas Houston Memphis San Antonio Northwest
Minnesota Oklahoma City Denver
Utah
Portland Pacific
38 37 36 26 15 W
16 17 19 29 38
L
.704 .685 .655 .473 .283
Pct
L.A. Clippers Phoenix Sacramento L.A. Lakers Golden State
THURSDAY
Milwaukee at Memphis Golden State at Utah Minnesota at Portland
WEDNESDAY Miami 109, Philadelphia 104
Charlotte 122, Atlanta 99 Orlando 118, New York 100 Boston 136, Brooklyn 86 Indiana 127, Toronto 125 Cleveland 108, Chicago 105 Memphis 121, Houston 113
Dallas 116, San Antonio 93
New Orleans 133, Washington 126 L.A. Lakers 138, Utah 122 Sacramento 102, Denver 98
Phoenix 116, Detroit 100
L.A. Clippers 130, Golden State 125
ALL-STAR BREAK FRIDAY At Indianapolis
Celebrity Game, 7 (ESPN)
RISING STARS
Semifinal 1, 9 (TNT) Semifinal 2 (TNT)
Final (TNT)
Miami Jovic Ca.Martin Adebayo Herro DRobinsn Cain Highsmith Jaquez Jr Love
— 1 21⁄2 121⁄2 221⁄2 GB