Haywood Highsmith goes from 76ers castoff to Heat playoff-race catalyst

MIAMI — Haywood Highsmith has been making the tough plays. Next it could lead to tough decisions for Erik Spoelstra.

With the Miami Heat’s rotation in constant injury flux for much of the season, finding minutes for Highsmith has stood among the least of Erik Spoelstra’s coaching challenges. But if Tyler Herro can make it back to an impactful role from the foot ailment that has had him out for six weeks, Highsmith’s recent play has added an additional component for Spoelstra to sort.

“He’s so inspiring right now,” Spoelstra said of the 6-foot-5 forward’s contributions on both ends. “He just continues to grind, continues to work, continues to get better. And he just does all the little things for our team, to help you win. You need players like this to win in this league.”

While not necessarily a go-to guy, Highsmith’s late 3-pointer in Tuesday night’s victory over the New York Knicks showed a willingness by the fourth-year veteran to meet the challenge of big moments.

“I joke about it, but we all have confidence he can do that,” teammate Kevin Love said of Highsmith’s recent shooting success. “He’s shot the ball well since training camp. So I think his confidence is there and is continuing to grow, especially in these last two weeks.

“But he’s become so much more than just a spot-minute and defender type of guy. You can really trust him to make play, to make shots, put the ball on the floor, defend 94 feet. He just does a lot of things for us and his game continues to grow.”

When Highsmith, 27, was in the Philadelphia 76ers’ organization, the Heat’s opponent Thursday night at Kaseya Center, he spent three stints with the 76ers’ G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, unable to gain NBA traction.

Tuesday night against the Knicks, he played as a Heat closer.

“Closing the game, it shows that Spo has trust in me to get the job done and bring it home,” Highsmith said. “It means that confidence, they believe in me to be on the court at the right time and at difficult moments in the game.”

Part II

With Thursday night’s game against the 76ers the start of a run of five games in seven nights, it again will be a test of pushing through back-to-back sets.

The run opens with the back-to-back set that concludes Friday night against the Rockets at Toyota Center. The Heat then play Tuesday night against the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena, followed by a Wednesday night game at Kaseya Center against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Heat are 5-6 on the second nights of such pairings, with the Hawks-Mavericks set their 13th and final such set of the season (there are no back-to-backs in the playoffs).

Jimmy Butler missed both games of the Heat’s previous back-to-back set, the March 17 victory in Detroit and March 18 loss in Philadelphia, out with a bruised right foot. Butler, 34, last played both nights of a back-to-back set March 7-8, when the Heat lost road games in Dallas and Oklahoma City.

Almost there

While Thursday is Bam Adebayo’s 65th game of the season, he will not reach the NBA requirement for postseason award eligibility until Friday night’s game in Houston.

While players are required to appear in at least 65 games for award eligibility, Adebayo’s 65-game total includes one appearance of only 12 minutes, when he went early in the Nov. 30 home victory over the Indiana Pacers after sustaining a hip contusion that kept him out the next seven games. Under the NBA’s award criteria, a minimum of 20 minutes must be played to count as an appearance toward awards.

Adebayo is considered a contender for Defensive Player of the Year, All-NBA and All-Defensive. If he wins Defensive Player of the Year or makes one of the three All-NBA teams, he becomes eligible for a supermax contract extension this summer.

Butler and Herro will end well shy of the 65-game requirement.

While guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. has surpassed 65 games, the game requirement does not apply for All-Rookie or Rookie of the Year.