Heat Notes: Highsmith, Injuries, Lowry, Robinson, Offense

Can Haywood Highsmith secure a regular rotation role even when the Heat are fully healthy? Anthony Chiang explores that topic in an article for The Miami Herald.

Highsmith rarely saw the court in his first two seasons, playing just 203 total minutes over 24 games with the Sixers and Heat. He has already more than doubled that total thus far in 2022/23, appearing in 21 contests (20.0 minutes per night) for a total of 420 minutes.

Down three starters in Tuesday’s loss to Chicago, the Heat leaned heavily on Highsmith, and he responded with career highs in points (18), field goals made (seven), threes made (four), and steals (four), Chiang notes. The Heat like Highsmith’s defensive versatility, and he’s limited opponents to just 37.6% shooting from the field, according to Chiang, who cites data from NBA.com.

“He’s been playing well,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said this week of Highsmith. “It has nothing to do with whether he’s making shots. That’s when everybody else will notice. But he’s played really well for the last five or six weeks and he’s been very impactful defensively. He’s playing his role offensively. And he’s pretty good on the baseline. He’s good at getting guys open shots on triggers. And he’s really working diligently on his shooting, so that’s going to improve. But defensively, he’s a presence for sure.”

As Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets, everyone on the Heat’s roster except for Omer Yurtseven could be available on Friday night against Indiana, with several players warming up with the intention of playing. So we could see tonight whether Highsmith will play with the lineup nearly whole.

The 26-year-old has a non-guaranteed contract, so the Heat will have to decide whether they want to keep him around by January 7, the last day for teams to waive non-guaranteed deals before they become guaranteed for the rest of the season. Based on Spoelstra’s quote, it sounds like Highsmith has a good shot at sticking with Miami and earning his full $1.75MM salary.

Here’s more on the Heat:

• Point guard Kyle Lowry missed Miami’s last three games with left knee soreness, but he’ll be available Friday night, per Chiang (Twitter link). A six-time All-Star with the Raptors, Lowry is averaging 14.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 5.9 APG and 1.1 SPG on .401/.353/.853 shooting through 28 games (36.1 MPG) in his second season with the Heat.
• In a subscriber-only article for The Miami Herald, Chiang writes that swingman Duncan Robinson is still adjusting to life off the bench after primarily being a starter from 2019-22. “It’s a challenge,” Robinson said of his new role. “I don’t think it’s like something I can’t overcome. It’s just about continuing to wrap your head around that it’s going to be different things on different days, and I’m starting to get to that point.” Robinson (799) is just eight three-pointers away from breaking the Heat’s franchise record for threes made, which is currently held by Tim Hardaway Sr. (806), Chiang adds.
• The 16-16 Heat entered Friday’s game ranked just 26th in the NBA in offense, but Spoelstra is confident that figure will rise with a healthy lineup, Winderman writes for The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “When we start getting guys back together, I think there’s going to be a great balance between our rim pressure, paint pressure and our 3-point shooting,” Spoelstra said. “When we have guys out, it’s just by any means necessary. And if other teams know that we’re just kind of tapping into one specific part of the menu, it becomes a little bit easier to defend.”