Heat going big
Whiteside, Olynyk and Adebayo are turning it on.
NEW YORK — The buffet of big men has provided ample appetizing options for Erik Spoelstra this season. So expect the Miami Heat coach to continue to consume as much as is offered.
Wednesday night, in the win over the Milwaukee Bucks that made it eight victories in the last nine games, Spoelstra found tempting morsel after tempting morsel, as he cycled through Hassan Whiteside, Kelly Olynyk and Bam Adebayo. Each satisfied the palate. “Whoever is having the best night, that’s who we got to play,” Adebayo said, as the Heat turned their attention to Friday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets, the third stop on this five-game trip. “A few nights, it’s been me. A few nights, it’s been H. A few nights, it’s been K.O. We all support one another.”
And when there are nights when they all get it going, it can make the Heat unique with an approach of big, bigger, biggest.
From Adebayo, there were seven rebounds, five assists and four points in 18 minutes, 48 seconds in Milwaukee.
From Olynyk, there were 15 points in 13 minutes against the Bucks, including 10 in the decisive fourth quarter.
And from Whiteside, there were a season-high 27 points, 13 rebounds and a season-high six blocked shots in 31 minutes, 41 seconds.
“We got a lot of big men on this team,” Whiteside said of what has become a shared responsibility. “So it’s a lot different than it was in the past.”
With Dion Waiters and Tyler Johnson out, Spoelstra had to play bigger Wednesday, pairing his big men together more often.
“I’m just glad Coach allowed me to play 32 minutes,” Whiteside said. “He left me out there. He really trusted me.”
To the degree that even after Olynyk scored the Heat’s first eight points of Wednesday’s fourth quarter, Spoelstra still turned back to Whiteside for the game’s final 4:39.
“You always want to play, especially if you’re in a groove and a flow like that, you want to be out there and still play,” Olynyk said. “But you know a good player is coming in for you. It’s not like you’re subbing in a third-grade kid to take your spot. You’re subbing in another great basketball player.”
So Spoelstra mixed and matched, at times removing a hot hand for one that proved even hotter, making the math work for at least one night with his big men cubed.
“We mentioned that in the locker room,” Spoelstra said. “Hassan was the player of the game for us, obviously. But our bench coming in really took control of the game at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
“K.O. obviously was clutch with his baskets. We were running our offense almost exclusively through him and he was alleviating a lot of the pressure getting free and making something out of nothing a few times, some really clever plays down the stretch.”
Before that, it was Adebayo keeping the Heat afloat.
“The extra-rebound possessions that he gives us are great,” Spoelstra said. “Just the confidence we all have to put him out there and guard anybody. He’s smart enough to figure out how to be in the right position. He can guard one through five. And he’s getting better and better with his technique each game. So sometimes you forget that he’s 20 years old. He plays a much more mature game than that.”
At Wednesday’s close, neither Olynyk nor Adebayo took issue with Whiteside this time being the one left to bring it home.
“Why would you take somebody out in that situation? He’s got it going and he had it going on both ends of the floor,” Olynyk said. “He’s blocking shots, rebounding, making plays inside. We needed that from him. I think he needed that for himself, too, to keep himself going.”
iwinderman@sunsentinel.com, Twitter @iraheatbeat, facebook.com/ ira.winderman
“We got a lot of big men on this team. So it’s a lot different than it was in the past.” Hassan Whiteside, Heat center