Heat without Love in addition to lacking Butler for game in Orlando; Haslem rips Draymond
ORLANDO – With the Miami Heat’s rotation, it remains somewhat of a two-man game when it comes to injury absences.
A game after getting Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro back from extended absences, the Heat announced Wednesday morning that Kevin Love would miss Wednesday night’s game against the Orlando Magic due to the stomach illness that kept him from traveling with the team Tuesday. The Heat previously had listed Jimmy Butler as out for Wednesday with a strained left calf.
Love, 35, had missed two games with a shoulder contusion early in the season and one game due to personal reasons. He also had fallen out of the rotation early in the season, held out of three games by coach’s decision.
Love started Monday night’s home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, but coach Erik Spoelstra said that night’s lineup was a factor of the Timberwolves’ large front line with Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns.
The Heat went into Wednesday having started 15 lineups in their first 27 games, with 13 of the 17 players under contract starting at least once, with Love having made five starts.
Butler is considered day-to-day with his strain, an injury that often requires several days to heal.
With Wednesday opening the Heat’s four-game season series against the Magic, Spoelstra said the 16-9 record Orlando carried into the day hardly was a surprise.
“They have a lot of big-time, young talent. They have eight lottery picks. This group now has been able to grow together,” Spoelstra said. “You don’t typically have that opportunity as a young group, particularly if you’re struggling, like they did a couple of years ago. But you definitely could see the progress last year.
“They are an aggressive, attacking team. They’re big. They have length at every position. Fourth in the East, it hasn’t been an accident.”
Double duty
With the Orlando area also hosting the G League Winter Showcase, it essentially left four Heat players with a schedule of three games in three nights.
In the wake of Monday night’s home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Heat players Nikola Jovic, Jamal Cain, RJ Hampton and Cole Swider played Tuesday for the Sioux Falls Skyforce in a 129-110 loss to the G League affiliate of the Toronto Raptors.
The event at the Orlando County Convention Center that was closed to the public included Spoelstra, Heat guard Tyler Herro and several others from the team in attendance.
“The timing worked out,” Spoelstra said. “It was great to be able to see them go through the whole process and everything.”
It was an uneven night for the Heat’s quartet. Jovic closed with 16 points and seven rebounds. Cain scored nine points, on 1-of-9 shooting. Hampton had nine points, going 0 for 5 on 3-pointers. And Swider scored 17 points, shooting 4 of 9 on 3-pointers.
“It was good to go there and watch them compete.” Herro said.
Among those opposing the Heat for Raptors 905 was former Heat forward Justise Winslow, who is trying to work his way back into the NBA, closing Tuesday’s game with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists.
The Skyforce close their Orlando Showcase schedule Friday, the same night the Heat host the Atlanta Hawks.
Name change
When the Heat arrived in Orlando on Tuesday, the name of the Magic’s arena was Amway Center. When they took the court at Wednesday morning’s shootaround, the facility was the Kia Center.
The Magic announced the change in naming rights in a ceremony just before the Heat began their morning practice at the Magic’s home venue.
The Heat last season underwent several changes to the name of their home arena in the wake of the demise of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, eventually reaching a team with a software company for a 17-year, $117 million rights package for what now is Kaseya Center.
The Magic were coming off a 10-year, $40 million naming agreement with Amway Global, whose ownership also owns and operates the Magic.
It is the latest in several naming changes in the Heat’s Southeast Division, with the Hawks in 2018 reaching a 20-year, $175 million naming-rights agreement for what is now State Farm Arena. In addition, the Washington Wizards announced an agreement last week to move from downtown Washington to a to-be-constructed facility in suburban Virginia.
The OGs
In the first episode of the new podcast he started with former Heat teammate and former University of Florida roommate Mike Miller, retired Heat icon Udonis Haslem offered pointed thoughts at the recent antics of suspended Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green.
Haslem said going after players in vulnerable positions, as was the case with recent Green suspensions after incidents against Rudy Gobert and Jusuf Nurkic is more bullying than leading.
“We ain’t bullies,” Haslem said on The OGs of NBA enforcers. “We don’t look for it. We don’t initiate it. We are guys that prevent it. We are guys that protect our teammates. So, man, I got a lot of respect for Draymond, man. But right now, Draymond tripping.”
Haslem also referenced Green last season taking a swing at former Warriors teammate Jordan Poole, equating it to him doing something similar to Herro,.
“Can you imagine me swinging on Herro?,” Haslem said. “I’d take a long walk off a short pier. I’d never forgive myself if I swung on Herro. I’m sure a lot of these young guys around the league are looking at Draymond like, ‘Yo, come on, man. We look up to you.’ “