Heat’s Oladipo says he will remain driven by approach that’s ‘patient and persistent’

This time, the ovation was muted. If Monday night’ s return from 11 months away from the game felt like fantasy for Victor Oladipo in the resounding victory over the Houston Rockets, Wednesday night’ s blowout loss to the Phoenix Suns felt like reality. Because this road back with the Miami Heat from May quadriceps surgery never was about ovations, just moving closer...

This time, the ovation was muted. This time, no chants on “O-La-DI-Po!” at FTX Arena. This time just another game — and, in this case, another loss — in the 82-game NBA regular-season grind.

If Monday night’s return from 11 months away from the game felt like fantasy for Victor Oladipo in the resounding victory over the Houston Rockets, Wednesday night’s blowout loss to the Phoenix Suns felt like reality.

And that, Oladipo said, is fine, too. Because this road back with the Miami Heat from May quadriceps surgery never was about ovations, just moving closer to the form that will be required by the April 16 start of the playoffs.

“It’s funny,” Oladipo said, still upbeat about where this ride already has delivered him, “the training staff here says it all the time, ‘You can do anything you want to prepare, but it doesn’t actually prepare you until you actually go out there and do it.’

“So at the end of the day, like I said before, I’m just staying patient. I’m going to go out there and pick my spots, continue to be aggressive and everything else will take care of itself.”

This time there were four points, three assists in 16:39, as well as a reintroduction into what elite-level basketball feels like, with the Suns becoming the league’s first team to clinch a playoff berth. It was an eye-opening contrast to the debut against a Rockets team at the other end of the Western Conference standings.

“It was great to compete against those guys,” he said, “great to compete against anyone, really, honestly, when you’ve been out for over 300 days, and you haven’t been able to play the game against anyone. So it’s pretty cool to be able to play against them.”

So it was the Suns’ Devin Booker, Cameron Payne, Mikal Bridges playing at one speed in Phoenix’s perimeter rotation, Oladipo at another.

“I’m not even close,” Oladipo said, not out of frustration, but out of candor, as the Heat turned their attention to Friday night’s visit by the Cleveland Cavaliers. “It’s going to take time. It’s going to take time. So I’m patient. And I’ve just got to keep playing, keep getting better. And eventually it’ll get comfy out there.”

Center Bam Adebayo said he appreciates the whirlwind.

“We’re happy Vic’s back,” he said of the 29-year-old former All-Star. “But we’ve got to give him time to really get in the flow of getting back to playing basketball. I felt like he still has those like those little butterflies, those jitters, because it’s his second game back.

“When he checks in, you got the crowd into it. You know they want him to score. And we want him to score, too. But you just have to give him time to play through everything.”

It is coming, Oladipo said.

But slowly.

“I felt like I was moving better even than the first game,” he said. “I’m starting to get more and more comfortable in my body, and just being out there and playing the game, you know, the speed of the game. And like I said, it’s going to take time. But I’m going to stay patient and persistent, as well.”

With coach Erik Spoelstra insistent on limiting these initial minutes to about 15 per game, the contributions will be limited. But Oladipo said he could eventually see himself as a difference maker on the nights when the offense isn’t flowing, which was the case when the Heat were limited to 19 third-quarter and 16 fourth-quarter points Wednesday.

“I mean, I feel like in my career I’ve done a pretty good job of scoring the basketball at all three levels, in the paint, mid-range, threes,” he said. “So when I get comfortable out there, I truly feel like I can contribute in pretty much any way offensively.

“So if that’s what the team needs me to do, that’s what I’m going to do, go out there and do whatever to help the team win. I just got to keep getting better, picking my spots and I’ll figure it out.”

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