Winderman’s view: Heat’s Spoelstra sends wakeup call to Wiggins in win with rotation remix
· Yahoo Sports
Observations and other notes of interest from Sunday night’s 114-108 victory over the Sacramento Kings:
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– Whether taken as running low on patience or the panic of the 3-6 record carried into the night, Andrew Wiggins was shuffled out of the starting mix for the first time in his Heat career, in favor of Pelle Larsson.
– Erik Spoelstra in his pregame media session said it was go-time with his lineup and rotation amid the struggles of Wiggins and Tim Hardaway Jr.
– So therefore the move.
– “Look, this is the balance: Those two are very important to our team. We want to pour life and confidence into them,” the Heat coach said. “Often in a long season you have to deal with multiple realities. A lot of things can be true. They’re not playing and contributing at the highest level right now. That’s not always going to happen.”
– Spoelstra added, “So sometimes that affects minutes. But that doesn’t change how we view them and how much we want to pour into them and get them playing at a higher level. And we feel it will happen.”
– So, no, not necessarily anything permanent.
– “Some things in this league can just change so fast,” Spoelstra continued. “You can have a great night and then all of a sudden everything is in a flow for you.”
– But, Spoelstra insisted, “The bottom line for our team right now, as a lot of guys are trying to figure it out individually, is collectively we just need a point to win. We have enough veteran players to win a basketball game.”
– Also before the game, Spoelstra again pointed to Larsson as the type of connector that his team needs.
– “He just continues to progress at a rate that shouldn’t be surprising for somebody with his competitiveness and his work ethic,” Spoelstra said. “Right now he’s leading us in terms of his ability to connect lineups. Whatever the unit he’s in, he’s a connector. And that’s proving to be really important for us right now.”
– Spoelstra added, “We need more connectors while we’re gaining confidence in our game. And the other thing is he brings that competitive toughness, that spirit, on both ends of the court, that we want everybody to embody, as well.”
– And, so, Wiggins was replaced in a starting lineup that otherwise for the 10th time in as many games featured Giannis Antetokounmpo, Klay Thompson, Bam Adebayo and Davion Mitchell.
–– Also, for the 10th time in as many games, the team’s three two-way players (Tre Donaldson, Keshad Johnson and Vlad Goldin) again inactive.
– Donaldson and Goldin both were in action Sunday for the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
– Goldin closed the victory over the Grand Rapids Gold with 19 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and 3 blocks.
– Donaldson closed the victory with 29 points (5 of 8 on 3s), six assists and four steals
– With Domantas Sabonis sidelined by knee soreness, the Kings opened with a lineup of Darius Acuff Jr.., Zach LaVine, Dylan Cardwell, De’Andre Hunter and Precious Achiuwa
– As for the Heat rotation beyond the starters . . .
– With Larsson with two early fouls, Wiggins was first off the Heat bench.
– Followed together by Ryan Conwell and Bobby Portis together.
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– With Conwell again playing ahead of Hardaway, who did not enter until the start of the second period.
– Yes, Spoelstra said, there have been more set pieces, and more success with set pieces lately.
– “During the course of the game, we want to be intentional,” he said. “It may be a pick and roll. It may be something else where we’re being specific on where the ball needs to go. Yes, we are trending in that way. But I don’t know if that will necessarily affect our pace.”
– Spoelstra was asked pregame about the emergence of Kings rookie guard Darius Acuff Jr., who got off to a hot start Sunday.
– “He’s one of these high-usage point-of-attack guys. I feel like every single night on this road trip we’ve faced one of those guys,” Spoelstra said. “So you have to handle that with great respect. It has to be five guys attacking and defending the ball. Everybody has to be on a string.”
– Spoelstra added, “You have to impact the ball at the point of his attack or pick and roll, whatever it may be. And then if it is an aggressive coverage, the back line has to be ready to rock and roll. And hopefully we’re getting better at that.”
– Adebayo’s fourth basket was the 4,000th of his career.