Heat’s Robinson living beyond the arc

NEW ORLEANS — Unlike with the AllStar Game, players do not vote for official NBA postseason awards.

But if Bam Adebayo had a vote for Most Improved Player, he would vote against himself, despite his leading candidacy.

“I’d give it to him,” the Miami Heat center said.

As in teammate Duncan Robinson. As in the undrafted former Division III player who is turning his second NBA season into a 3-for-all.

And if Erik Spoelstra had a vote, which he doesn’t, he might find himself leaning that way, as well.

“If you took a poll on NBA players and

asked who Duncan Robinson was coming into training camp, I would say probably 70% of the league didn’t know who he was,” the Heat coach said, with the forward out of Michigan (after transferring from Div. III Williams) spending much of last season in the G League on a twoway contract.

In fact, that might go for Orlando Magic coach Steve Clifford, as well, after his team allowed 22 3-ponters in Wednesday night’s loss to the Heat.

“The biggest factor in that game was totally on me,” he said. “We just didn’t have a good Option B for Duncan Robinson until halftime.”

By then, Robinson was up to seven 3-pointers.

For the Heat, none of this is revelation, as they move into their final 20 games of the season, a stretch that begins on the road Friday night against the New Orleans Pelicans.

“When you see a guy do that over and over and over and his preparation and practice, and when he’s in there by himself with the coaches, it doesn’t shock you,” Adebayo said

Friday could stand as somewhat of a coronation for the 6-foot-7 forward. With his nine 3-pointers on Wednesday lifting him to 225 for the season, he is two from the franchise record set by Wayne Ellington in 2017-18. In addition, Robinson’s next 3-point conversion will give him the NBA record for most 3-pointers in a season by an undrafted player, a record with his 225 he currently shares with Damon Jones, who set that mark with the Heat in 2004-05.

“I think it’s really a remarkable story of persistence and how much he’s improved,” Spoelstra said. “It’s incredible.”

Eventually, there likely will be another record: Robinson has converted multiple 3-pointers in 47 consecutive games, two games shy of the franchise record run by Rafer Alston that ended in 2010.

“You don’t start a season thinking you’re going to do anything like that,” Robinson said, “but you just take what opportunities come and make the most of them.”

All the while, the approach remains humble.

“There’s a group of us that go up and do catch-and-shoots before practice every day,” he said. “It’s just a culmination of a lot of work. Credit to the staff and my teammates for finding me in those situations and also encouraging me to be more and more aggressive.”

As for recognition, the field for Most Improved Player is loaded this season, including Adebayo, Dallas’ Luka Doncic, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, Toronto’s Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam and a pair of players the Heat will face Friday night, the Pelicans’ Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball.

“The path that I’ve taken is a little unconventional, but hopefully at this point I’ve garnered some respect in that regard,” Robinson said.

MICHAEL LAUGHLIN/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL The Heat’s Duncan Robinson has been off and running with his 3-point success all season.