What Thomas Bryant and Jamal Cain did for the Heat on Wednesday that is ‘never easy’

Thomas Bryant opened the season as the Miami Heat’s backup center, but he fell out of the rotation just a few weeks later. Even with starting center Bam Adebayo out because of a hip injury, Bryant has remained out of the rotation with Orlando Robinson and Kevin Love instead getting the minutes at center for the short-handed Heat.

That’s not an easy situation for any player to be in, especially for a veteran in his seventh NBA season who can enter free agency this upcoming summer.

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“It’s never easy in this league for any player, when you’re not necessarily consistently in the rotation and then all of a sudden your number is called,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra ahead of Thursday night’s matchup against the Chicago Bulls at Kaseya Center (7:30 p.m., Bally Sports Sun) on the second night of the home back-to-back set. “You better have done a lot of work to prepare and be ready for the opportunity. You see that slip away from so many players in this league. They get frustrated, then they pout, then they’re not ready when their number is called and then they play poorly, and then it’s done.”

How has Bryant handled it? By staying ready for when he’s called on like in Wednesday night’s 115-104 home win against the Charlotte Hornets, when Bryant tied a season high with 11 points and set a new season high with nine rebounds in 15:42 minutes off the Heat’s bench in just his fifth game appearance since Nov. 14.

With Bryant playing 16 minutes, Robinson played just 12 minutes Wednesday despite making his fifth straight start at center for the injured Adebayo.

“You’re really happy for Thomas even in this kind of moment because he hasn’t let any of that seep in,” Spoelstra continued. “He just continues to work, and he understands that there’s a lot of continuity with this group and he’s trying to fast track to learn how we do things. He’s been really diligent behind the scenes and he had great minutes [Wednesday]. If he didn’t have those minutes, then who knows where the game could have done?”

Bryant, 26, logged double-digit minutes in each of the first eight games of the season before his playing time began to diminish. In the following 16 games prior to Thursday’s contest against the Bulls, Bryant has only played double-digit minutes in three games and has received nine DNP-CDs (did not play, coach’s decision).

“Always just staying ready, being a professional about it,” Bryant said of his approach to the situation during an interview aired on Bally Sports Sun following Wednesday’s win against the Hornets. “Just going in day in and day out keeping the same routine and just being aware and mentally engaged in the game as it goes on, so whenever my time is called I can be ready.”

Bryant, who joined the Heat on a minimum contract in free agency this past summer and has a $2.8 million player option in his deal for next season, entered Thursday averaging 5.1 points and four rebounds in 12.5 minutes per game in 15 appearances this season. The Heat has been outscored by 6.1 points per 100 possessions in his minutes.

Even with Adebayo unavailable, Bryant has essentially remained out of the Heat’s rotation. When Adebayo returns, minutes could be even harder for Bryant to find.

But Wednesday was proof that Bryant is staying ready just in case he is called on to play.

“I always try to bring that contagious energy in a great way for my teammates,” said Bryant, who stuck out his chest and let out a yell after throwing down a dunk over Hornets center Nick Richards on Wednesday. “They look at me to do that and I’ve been doing that for a long time. So I’m just trying to give it to my teammates in an infectious way that brings us life and energy for me and my teammates out there.”

CAIN ALSO STAYING READY

With four Heat rotation players out, two-way contract forward Jamal Cain also received a rare opportunity to play extended minutes in Wednesday’s home win against the Hornets.

Cain logged 28:53 off the Heat’s bench in Wednesday’s victory, which is the second-most minutes he has played for the Heat this season. He finished the seventh NBA appearance of his second NBA season with a season-high 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field and 2-of-6 shooting on threes to go with three rebounds, one assist, two steals and one block.

“I’ve been training for it, I’ve been practicing hard just getting ready for this moment,” Cain said. “So when they came to me, I just wanted to help my team in any way that I can.”

Cain, 24, is on a two-way contract with the Heat for the second straight season after going undrafted out of Oakland University last year. He has played in five games with the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, this season.

“I still get to learn, still take the mental reps and just put myself in game situations when I’m working out and stuff like that,” Cain said of the benefits of being with the Heat despite limiting playing time. “And just being around Jimmy [Butler] and Kyle [Lowry] because they’re vets in the game, so learning from them.”

INJURY REPORT

The Heat again ruled out Adebayo (left hip contusion), Tyler Herro (right ankle sprain), Haywood Highsmith (lower back contusion), Nikola Jovic (G League), Josh Richardson (back spasms) and Dru Smith (season-ending knee injury) for Thursday’s game against the Bulls on the second night of the back-to-back. The Heat will play without four rotation players — Adebayo, Herro, Highsmith and Richardson — for the second straight game.

The Bulls, which were off on Wednesday, ruled out Lonzo Ball (left knee surgery), Onuralp Bitim (G League), Zach LaVine (right foot inflammation), Justin Lewis (G League) and Adama Sanogo (G League) against the Heat. In addition, Alex Caruso (left ankle sprain) is listed as questionable.