Oladipo participates in first team practice
Winslow won’t play Tuesday for Grizzlies
Victor Oladipo was talking practice Monday. And that had the Miami Heat newcomer feeling particularly good.
Twelve days after being acquired from the Houston Rockets at the NBA trading deadline, the Heat schedule finally allowed for his first full practice with the team.
“It was good to kind of actually make it to practice and see how we run things here, get more comfortable with play, play calling, and just get more acclimated with my teammates,” he said ahead of Tuesday night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies at AmericanAirlines Arena. “It’s been great, it was great, the first practice. Obviously, I haven’t had an opportunity. Kind of just to get that out of the way was just good for me, my comfortable level, as well.”
Coach Erik Spoelstra said it already has been impressive what Oladipo has been able to accomplish in his first two games.
“Vic literally did not have a shootaround,” Spoelstra said. “So we got back and basically walked through a handful of things and threw him out there in the starting lineup, and he was able to fit in there very well. And his instincts defensively are spectacular.”
As, teammate Andre Iguodala said, it’s been Oladipo’s offensive instincts, even as the 28-yearold guard has struggled to 5 of 21 shooting in those first two Heat appearances.
“Maybe he’s not comfortable yet, but he’s helped us like tremendously,” Iguodala said. “I don’t even know if he knows it yet, but just kind of like the way he’s moving the ball and being a threat, he’s taken a lot of pressure off our guys.”
Oladipo also clarified that when after Saturday’s victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers he mentioned a strength deficit in his legs, it was not because of lingering discomfort from previously tearing his right quadriceps.
“It’s interesting,” he said, “when you’re honest, people kind of take it and run with it and make it their own. But it doesn’t mean that I’m hurt. I’m healed. If I was hurt, I wouldn’t even be able to run up and down the floor the way I do. But it’s a process. At the end of the day, I’m fine.”
As, all the while, he waits for that moment when it all falls into place with the Heat.
“I just know it’s going to happen,” he said. “I’m not really sure when the moment or how.
“It’ll happen. And I think it’ll be evident, you’ll be able to tell when it does.”
Winslow out: Former Heat forward Justise Winslow has been ruled out by the Grizzlies for what would have been his first game at AmericanAirlines Arena as a visitor.
Dealt by the Heat at last season’s NBA trading deadline, Winslow will miss his fifth consecutive game due Tuesday to thigh soreness.
Winslow previously missed the first 25 games of the season due to a left-hip displacement and then another two to rest the hip, having appeared in just 16 games this season.
Also out for the Grizzlies are Jaren Jackson (knee) and De’Anthony Melton (leg), with Brandon Clarke (calf ) questionable.
For the Heat, KZ Okpala remains out due to health and safety protocols. The only other player on the Heat injury report is guard Gabe Vincent, who is listed as probable with knee soreness.
Miami in NBA grant: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami was one of nine organizations named Monday to receive part of $3 million in NBA Foundation grants.
Per the league, “The grants will enhance and build upon the important work of these national and local organizations that align with the NBA Foundation’s mission to provide skills training, mentorship, coaching and pipeline development for high school, college-aged, job-ready and mid-career individuals in Black communities across the United States and Canada.”