In the Miami Heat’s latest win over the weekend against the San Antonio Spurs, it marked a fresh new era of Heat basketball. Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware shared the floor together for the first time in some extended minutes— and the results led to the win. Tonight, they will be right back at it at home against the visiting Portland Trail Blazers.
Ware wound up being inserted with the first unit to open up the second half of the previous game, benching Haywood Highsmith in his favor. Now, all eyes will be on coach Erik Spoelstra’s starting lineup decision to continue riding the wave of Ware or lean back into Highsmith.
Following the Spurs game, Spoelstra expressed a willingness to continue with his latest lineup trend.
Additonally, both Ware and Adebayo seemed thrilled to finally have this combination out on the court— with the results looking just as promising as expected.
When Adebayo spoke to the media, he was all smiles discussing the defensive advantages this new frontcourt duo can bring to the Heat.
“Back to switching a little bit, guarding my yard,” Adebayo said. “Not being in a drop zone all year. It’s a good switch up for us.”
Miami has snapped their four-game losing skid and will aim to pick up the second consecutive win against the 14-28 Blazers on Tuesday night. Portland lost to the Heat a couple of weeks back at home, but now they will have their own formidable frontcourt playing in Jerami Grant and DeAndre Ayton. They both sat out the previous matchup versus the Heat due to injuries.
However, Miami is 7-1 over their last eight games against the Blazers.
With Ware’s time has finally here, he seized the opportunity on Sunday. The 7-foot rookie put up 25 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks on 53% shooting in the win. Miami outscored their opponent by 27 points in his season-high 34 minutes of action.
The Adebayo/Ware dynamic is very much a real thing now, and has temporarily shifted the headlines from Jimmy Butler’s drama. Butler posted 8 points and 7 assists in the last game.
Tonight’s matchup against the Blazers will tip-off at 7:30 PM EST on FanDuel Sports Network Sun.
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Isaiah Stevens (g-league) — OUT
- Josh Richardson (heel) — OUT
- Dru Smith (achilles) — OUT
Portland Trail Blazers:
- Kris Murray (chest) — QUESTIONABLE
- Anfernee Simons (elbow) — QUESTIONABLE
- Robert Williams III (ankle) — QUESTIONABLE
- Donovan Clingan (ankle) — OUT
- Taze Moore (G League) — OUT
- Rayan Rupert (G League) — OUT
- Matisse Thybulle (ankle) — OUT
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Miami Heat:
- Tyler Herro, G
- Duncan Robinson, G
- Jimmy Butler, F
- Haywood Highsmith, F
- Bam Adebayo, C
Portland Trail Blazers:
- Deni Avdija, G
- Scoot Henderson, G
- Toumani Camara, F
- Jerami Grant, F
- DeAndre Ayton, C
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 7:30 PM EST
- TV: FanDuel Sports Network Sun (Eric Reid & John Crotty)
- Radio: AM 560 Sports WQAM & The HEAT Radio Network (Jason Jackson)
- Spanish Radio: WAQI 710 AM & The HEAT Spanish Radio Network (José Pañeda)
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Lets continue an experiment.
As far I can remember, the starting lineup rarely make any advantage.
The bench was the strong part of the team this season.
They can’t catch us by surprise, because we’re a Ware now. It’s time for Portland to Scoot.
Ayton about to find out about the Warewolf. It should be a good challenge for Ware, as Ayton is beefier than Wemby and the type of player he will face off against more often than not.
I’m curious how Jimmy will manage his effort levels. lol