With Bam Adebayo out, Heat may have found their next big things
No, the Miami Heat were not the big story in South Florida basketball on Saturday night, not with the emotional ends of the season for the University of Miami and Florida Atlantic University at the NCAA Tournament Final Four.
But there still was a big story for the Heat in a season that now is assured of rolling on beyond the April 9 end of the NBA regular season.
On a night center Bam Adebayo was unable to go because of a hip contusion, the Heat found salvation and redemption by alternate means in their power mix in their victory over the Dallas Mavericks, steps forward that could yet solidify the team’s rotation going into the postseason.
With Adebayo out, amid uncertainty of where he stands for the team’s final four regular-season games, veteran journeyman Cody Zeller moved into the starting lineup and produced a 20-point, eight- rebound game.
In addition, Kevin Love then stepped back into the reserve role in which he thrived last season with the Cleveland Cavaliers and led the Heat bench with 18 points.
It was the best Heat performance for each February pickup off the buyout market.
For Love, it was the first time in his 18-game Heat tenure that he looked like he truly fit.
“I’ve been obviously searching since I’ve been here, kind of trying to find my shots, get into some sort of a rhythm and sometimes I find myself not being myself,” Love said. “[Saturday], this felt the most like me.”
Included in his performance was 2-of-5 3-point shooting. Love entered Saturday at 28% from beyond the arc with the Heat.
“I’ve been pressing,” he acknowledged. “I’ve shot the ball extremely well in our practices that we’ve had and our player development that we’ve done.”
Mostly, Love, 34, said he felt like himself again.
“I’m at the point in my career, like I told these guys, I want to be comfortable, I want to play my game to help these guys, and I just want to help them win,” he said.
Then there’s Zeller, who got his first start since May 2021 while with the Charlotte Hornets.
Unlike Adebayo, who has prioritized operating with the ball and looking for his own offense this season, Zeller offered a complementary element at center, thriving in the pick-and-roll to the degree that Jimmy Butler finished with a season-high 12 assists.
“It’s obviously the most I’ve played with him,” Zeller said. “He just draws so much attention. He’s a willing passer. So I felt like I was shooting layups all night.
“To be honest, that was all Jimmy. He’s so intelligent. He sees the game so well. He was telling me exactly where to go.”
And yet, through it all, though his 9-of-13 shooting, Zeller, 30, admitted relief when seeing Love preparing to check in.
“It was a lot of minutes for me compared to the shape I’m in, but it felt good,” Zeller said after going 28:37. “I was exhausted. I was so excited every time Kevin was at the scorers’ table.”
With both Zeller and Love thriving at center Saturday, one could be the odd man out upon an Adebayo return.
For now, though, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said it’s about whatever works in the moment, as the Heat prepare to open a three-game trip that starts Tuesday night against the Detroit Pistons.
“These are playoff games for us,” Spoelstra said. “We’ll just do the lineups with whatever is necessary.”
With Love on board with whatever might come next.
“Whatever coach wants,” he said. “I mean, I told him that even before I got here. I said I’m not tripping about starting, coming off the bench. I would love to just play my minutes extremely hard, try to make an impact.”
To that count, a season that started with backup center Dewayne Dedmon struggling and then dealt, one that continued with second-year center Omer Yurtseven unable to reclaim playing time, a Saturday Heat game played in the shadow of the NCAA Tournament might have provided something truly big for Spoelstra’s team.
“Four games is not a big sample size for us to move forward,” Love said. “But, honestly, it’s going to be whatever the coaching staff wants. Like I’m not getting caught up in it.”
