Kyle Lowry

Southeast Notes: Robinson, Dedmon, Lowry, Clifford, Krejci

January 9th, 2023 at 10:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Two-way player Orlando Robinson may have passed Dewayne Dedmon on the depth chart as the Heat‘s backup center. Robinson finished Sunday’s one-point loss to Brooklyn with six points, nine rebounds and two assists in 20 minutes, while Dedmon didn’t play due to coach’s decision for the first time this season. The Heat outscored the Nets by 24 points with Robinson on the court, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald notes.

“I thought he just gave us great minutes,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Even when we had to take (Bam Adebayo) out in the fourth quarter, that could have been an emotional downer, like a real buzz kill. But O had been playing really well and when I turned to him, everybody else was like: ‘Yeah, let’s do this.’ He’s earned the minutes and I think the way he was really sprinting to the rim on some of the pick-and-rolls and creating a little bit of confusion, really helped us generate some clean looks.”

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Heat guard Kyle Lowry has been downgraded to out for Tuesday’s game against the Thunder, Chiang tweets. The Heat have a number of injury concerns. Rotation players Caleb Martin (left quadriceps strain) and Duncan Robinson (finger surgery) have also been ruled out, while Tyler Herro (left Achilles soreness) and Adebayo (right wrist contusion) are questionable.
Steve Clifford returned for a second stint as the Hornets’ head coach to take them to the next level. The way the season has played out, he now has the task of developing the young players during a rough season. Clifford spoke of trying to strike that balance in a Q&A with Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer in a subscriber-required story. “We need to win and develop these young guys. And definitely this is really a different roster than what we thought it would be, particularly when I first got here,” Clifford said. “But at the end of the day being adaptable as a coach is a big deal, and you want to be the right coach for the team that you are coaching.”
Vit Krejci had his contract for this season guaranteed by the Hawks over the weekend when he remained on the roster. Krejci is grateful the front office decided to keep him around, as he told Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Yeah, it’s a good feeling,” Krejci said. “You know, I worked really hard to be in this position. And I’m glad that the team trusts me and the coaches and the staff, everybody trusts me. So, I’m really happy for that.” Krejci has appeared in 17 games this season.

Southeast Notes: Butler, Lowry, McDaniels, Oubre

January 1st, 2023 at 4:18pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

A consultation with a Los Angeles doctor over the weekend resulted in good news on the state of Heat All-Star small forward Jimmy Butler‘s sore right knee, reports Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). Butler sat out Miami’s narrow 126-123 victory over the Jazz last night but has been cleared to play in back-to-backs going forward, a source tells Chiang.

In 23 games this year, Butler is averaging 21.8 PPG on .528/.340/.829 shooting splits. He’s also chipping in 6.7 RPG, 5.8 APG and 2.1 SPG for the 19-18 Heat.

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$28.3MM Heat starting point guard Kyle Lowry may need to step up his game or risk being rotated out of the team’s closing lineups for good, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida South Sentinel. The 36-year-old was recently sat for the entirety of the fourth quarter in the Utah win, after experiencing consecutive down nights in back-to-back games against the Nuggets and Jazz.
Fourth-year Hornets reserve small forward Jalen McDaniels recently spoke with Alex Kennedy of Basketball News about his long road to major rotation time. “Playing in the G League [for much of his rookie season], it just got me real confident — just letting me play through my mistakes and play a lot of minutes,” McDaniels said. “I learned a lot of the game, coming from the G League, playing in a lot of games and just knowing what to expect. I feel like my game is just locked in and I know where I’m supposed to be.” This season, McDaniels is averaging a career-most 10.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 2.2 APG and 1.0 SPG in 25.9 MPG.
Starting Hornets small forward Kelly Oubre Jr. will be sidelined for at least a few games as he grapples with a sprained left hand, reports Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. “He’s working, doing as much as he can now to try and get back,” head coach Steve Clifford said. “Hopefully we’ll know more in the next couple of days. The hand is funny, it just got banged a bunch of times, and this was twice in a short period of time. It was really sore. You could see he was struggling to catch the ball. He definitely needs time for sure.”

Southeast Notes: Hawks, Heat, Banchero, Magic, Beal

December 28th, 2022 at 7:21pm CST by Rory Maher

Hawks point guard Trae Young was ruled out of Wednesday’s game against Brooklyn due to a left calf contusion, per Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). Starting small forward De’Andre Hunter will also be sidelined for the second straight game with a left ankle sprain.

Young, who is averaging 27.3 PPG, 2.8 RPG and 9.9 APG on .414/.316/.896 shooting through 31 games, was injured in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s loss to Indiana, which dropped the Hawks to 17-17 on the season.

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Heat stars Jimmy Butler (right ankle sprain) and Bam Adebayo (illness) were both out for Monday’s victory over the Wolves, but were back in action for Wednesday’s game against the Lakers, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (subscriber link). However, point guard Kyle Lowry was ruled out for personal reasons, the first time he’s missed a game with that designation in 2022/23 after missing extended time last season due to personal reasons. Gabe Vincent was moved into the starting lineup in Lowry’s place, Winderman adds.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra suggested that backup center Dewayne Dedmon could miss an extended period of time for the Heat as he continues to be hobbled by plantar fasciitis in his left foot, Winderman writes in another subscriber-only story for The Sun Sentinel. “There’s no point in resting him and then if we’re going to be right back to where he is where we’re managing it every single day,” Spoelstra said. “He would like to put it behind you. I don’t know necessarily if he’ll be able to fully put it behind him the way Gabe [Vincent] was with the week or two weeks rest. But our hope is that it will be a lot better than it was.” Still, being down Adebayo and Dedmon on Monday showed the that Heat might have decent depth in the middle, with rookies Nikola Jovic and Orlando Robinson capably filling in, according to Winderman, who notes that Omer Yurtseven shouldn’t be overlooked going forward either, despite being sidelined following ankle surgery.
The Magic have won eight of their past 10 games, and No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero has played a big part in their recent surge, as Kelly Iko of The Athletic details. The 6’10” forward says he’s hoping for both team and individual success for the rest of ’22/23. “Hopefully we can make the playoffs or the play-in, get there and win Rookie of the Year. That’s my goal,” he said. The Magic currently trail the Raptors by two-and-a-half games for the final spot in the play-in tournament.
Wizards guard Bradley Beal, who exited Tuesday’s win over Philadelphia with left hamstring soreness, likely won’t be out for long, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Beal was officially ruled out of Wednesday’s game against Phoenix (Twitter link via Ava Wallace of The Washington Post), but Charania says he is considered day-to-day and could be back for Friday’s contest in Orlando.

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

December 23rd, 2022 at 6:04pm CST by Rory Maher

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.

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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.”

Heat Notes: Rotation, Dedmon, Butler, Injuries, Herro

December 20th, 2022 at 6:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Heat have been unable to play their full roster this season due to injuries. What could happen if the Heat get at or near full strength?

Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel explores that question. Gabe Vincent, who has seen some playing time as the backup point guard, could be pushed further down the bench. Coach Erik Spoelstra would have to choose between Max Strus and Duncan Robinson as the backup wing and Haywood Highsmith could also be on the rotation bubble.

The Heat could look to deal backup center Dewayne Dedmon and his expiring contract, along with another player, for some immediate help. In that scenario, Orlando Robinson could be a stopgap as the main reserve until Omer Yurtseven is able to return from ankle surgery.

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Speaking of absences, Jimmy Butler was scratched from the team’s game against Chicago on Tuesday due to a gastrointestinal illness, the team tweets. It was the 12th game that Butler missed this season.
A trio of other players — Kyle Lowry (left knee soreness), Caleb Martin (left ankle sprain) and Vincent (left knee effusion) — were also sidelined. Two-way player Jamal Cain was recalled from the G League to provide depth.
Entering the team’s road trip, Tyler Herro was averaging 15.6 points in the nine wins in which he played and 24.2 points in the 10 losses he played. Herro then averaged a team-high 26.3 points during the Heat’s 4-0 road swing. He debunks the notion that the team tends to do better when he scores less, according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “I think it’s a pointless stat. Because the games we’ve won, I’ve shot the same amount of shots and I just ended up missing them,” he said. “So when shots go in, I’ll have above 20. If I miss, I have below 20. It’s make or miss at the end of the day and I don’t think that stat is credible.”

Heat Notes: Oladipo, Butler, Lowry, Jovic, Martin, Highsmith

December 6th, 2022 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Heat guard Victor Oladipo has been upgraded to questionable for Tuesday’s game against Detroit, says Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, noting that it’s the first time Oladipo has received that designation this season. The former All-Star has yet to appear in a game this fall due to left knee tendinosis, but it sounds like his debut is imminent.

If Oladipo is able to play on Tuesday, it would help the Heat make up for some other veteran absences. As Chiang writes, Jimmy Butler, who recently missed seven games due to a knee injury, has been ruled out for the second night of a back-to-back set as the club attempts to manage his workload.

A handful of players have also been listed as questionable, including Kyle Lowry due to left ankle discomfort, per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). Lowry is the only Heat player who has yet to miss a game this season, but that streak appears to be in jeopardy.

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Heat rookie Nikola Jovic didn’t shoot the ball well in his first game with the Sioux Falls Skyforce on Sunday, making just 3-of-12 shots from the field. But he appreciated the opportunity to play big minutes and wouldn’t object to another G League assignment, as Chiang relays for The Miami Herald. “It helps me a lot with my feel for the game,” Jovic said. “I can try to do things more than with the Heat because the ball is in my hands in Sioux Falls and it’s sometimes on me to work and try to get a shot. But when I’m with the Heat, I’m doing the same thing but it’s not on me to be that guy right now. I don’t know yet, but I think I’ll probably go back (to Sioux Falls) again and I think it’s a great thing for me.”
Asked to play power forward this season following P.J. Tucker‘s departure, Caleb Martin has expanded his game for the Heat, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Meanwhile, in his Miami Herald mailbag, Chiang wonders whether Martin’s skill set is being maximized in his current role.
Heat forward Haywood Highsmith didn’t initially realize that he had increased the partial guarantee on his contract to $700K last week, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I’m not going to lie. I didn’t realize it at all,” he said. “… I forgot. I thought it was in January. I should know those dates.” The rest of Highsmith’s $1.75MM salary for 2022/23 will become guaranteed if he remains under contract through January 7.

Heat Notes: Health, Oladipo, Reserves, Big Four

December 4th, 2022 at 12:00pm CST by Luke Adams

At 11-12, the Heat remain below .500 for the time being, but with their lineup finally getting healthy, the team submitted a statement win over the Celtics in Boston on Friday night, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, who suggests that it may be premature to rule out last year’s two Eastern Conference Finals teams meeting again in that series this year.

“We never lost confidence in this group, in ourselves,” Jimmy Butler said after the victory, Miami’s fourth in five games. “We know what we’re capable of. We just have to go out and prove it. We’re not worried about anybody else, just the guys in our locker room and coaching staff, ownership, management. We have a long way to go but we can get there.”

Given that the Heat are still outside of the playoff picture in the East, tied for ninth in the conference, they’ll need to show more to be widely considered a serious threat to make it to the Finals. But the players in the locker room aren’t worried about what outside observers think the team can and can’t do.

“You got to think about it, we were No. 1 in the East (last season) and people didn’t even pay us any mind,” Bam Adebayo said. “Then being where we’re at now, they’re definitely not talking about us. The biggest thing for us is just stacking up the wins.”

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Victor Oladipo, who has been sidelined all season due to a knee injury, isn’t ready to offer a specific target date for his return, but said “hopefully soon” when asked when he might be ready to suit up, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. “We’ll see. It’s more of a day to day thing, how I feel and what we feel makes the best sense,” Oladipo said. “I trust our training staff and the people I work with as well, coming up with a solid plan and make sure I’m ready to go.”
Although Oladipo and Omer Yurtseven remain on the shelf, the Heat are otherwise relatively healthy after fighting a serious battle with the injury bug during the first quarter of the season. Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel examines whether a handful of Miami’s reserves, including Haywood Highsmith, Duncan Robinson, and Nikola Jovic, will continue to see regular playing time now that the depth chart isn’t quite so thin.
Friday’s win over Boston represented the first time in over a month that the Heat had Butler, Adebayo, Kyle Lowry, and Tyler Herro all available for the same game. As Winderman details in another Sun Sentinel story, head coach Erik Spoelstra is referring to that quarter as his “Big Four,” and they lived up to that moniker on Friday, scoring 99 of Miami’s 120 points.

Heat Notes: Butler, Martin, Jovic, Lowry, Highsmith

November 25th, 2022 at 7:54pm CST by Rory Maher

Friday marks Jimmy Butler‘s fifth consecutive absence due to right knee soreness, and he’s likely out Sunday at Atlanta as well. However, the expectation is that the 33-year-old forward will return for Wednesday’s game at Boston, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (free account required).

In addition to Butler, Duncan Robinson (left ankle sprain) and Max Strus (right shoulder impingement) continue to deal with their own injuries, Winderman notes. Robinson has now missed three straight, while Friday is Strus’ second straight missed game.

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After signing a three-year, $20.4MM to remain with Miami in the offseason, forward Caleb Martin continues to make progress as a player, Winderman writes for The Sun Sentinel. “Caleb has grown and changed from what he was previously, before,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I still think he’s going to have a game where he’ll be flirting with some triple-doubles, just the way he’s getting into dribble handoffs, the way he can get shooters open shots. There’s going to be one of those nights where he’s just going to fall into all of those being makes, and you’ll look up and he’s going to have eight assists with eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter. I told him the big thing is can he get 10 rebounds. I know he can get the points and assists. He has a knack for the ball, so he’s going to be able to get that as well.” The 27-year-old has hit his stride over the last six games (39.5 minutes), averaging 15.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.2 blocks on .515/.452/.800 shooting.
Rookie Nikola Jovic has flashed intriguing potential as an injury-replacement starter, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (subscriber link). The 19-year-old forward has a lot of work to do defensively, but the Heat are pleased with how he’s developing early on in 2022/23. “He has really good offensive instincts not only as a passer but as a screener, how to get into open spaces, how to execute different things and then his passing and his vision,” Spoelstra said. “As soon as he got here, that was probably his No. 1 strength — his ability to make other guys better. And he’s not afraid of the moment. So he’s comfortable out there, he’s earning the respect of everybody in the locker room and he’s earning his stripes right now.”
Miami continues to be ravaged by injuries, which is the primary reason the team has lost four of its last five games, but Kyle Lowry has been playing some of his best basketball in a Heat uniform, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Haywood Highsmith‘s defense and Martin’s all-around game have also been positives with Miami severely shorthanded, Jackson observes. The Heat are currently 8-11, the No. 12 seed in the East.

Heat Notes: Lowry, Spoelstra, Cain, O. Robinson

November 23rd, 2022 at 7:36pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat never planned to have Kyle Lowry rank second in the league in minutes played, but early-season injuries have forced them into that situation, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Through 18 games, Lowry has logged 656 minutes, just four behind league leader Kevin Durant. The veteran guard had to play at least 44 minutes twice on the team’s recent four-game road trip, including a 51-minute outing last Friday at Washington.

“I can’t say enough about Kyle Lowry and that’s why he has that reputation that he does as a winner,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He’s dealing with his stuff, too, and he’s just, ‘I’m available, coach. Whatever you need from me. If you need me to play 48, I’ll play 48.’ And he’s basically been doing that every single game on this road trip. It’s not something I like to do sitting in this head coaching chair. That’s where we are right now.”

With Max Strus sidelined tonight, Lowry is the only Heat player to have appeared in every game. He has been able to stay healthy after dealing with a strained hamstring last postseason and is answering critics who’ve raised questions about his conditioning.

“For me, it’s about playing basketball and doing my job at the highest level I can possibly do it at,” Lowry said. “At the end of the day, I don’t know how long I’ll be able to play basketball the rest of my life. I want to play, I still enjoy it and I have fun doing it.”

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The Heat have been short-handed for much of the season, and Spoelstra is hoping some of his players will be able to return soon even if they’re not 100 percent, Chiang adds in a separate story. “Maybe they can give us a little bit of reinforcement even if it’s just short minutes,” Spoelstra said. “That’s where we are right now. Just give us whatever you have, whatever you have just give us. If you’re used to playing 30 minutes, give us 15. If you’re used to playing 20 minutes, give us eight. So we can kind of manage things right now.”
Jamal Cain, who earned a two-way contract after going undrafted, saw late-game minutes Monday instead of first-round pick Nikola Jovic, notes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. “He has a great, positive spirit every single day,” Spoelstra said of Cain. “It doesn’t change whether he’s having a good day, a bad day, an in-between day. You have no idea. He always has the same approach, a great enthusiasm for the work. And that’s why he’s going to continue to get better.”
Orlando Robinson found there wasn’t much demand for an “old school” big man in the draft, but he’s getting a chance to prove himself after signing a two-way deal earlier this month, Winderman states in another piece.

Heat Notes: Lowry, Zone Defense, Injury Report

November 19th, 2022 at 8:39pm CST by Arthur Hill

With the Heat facing an extensive injury list for Friday’s game at Washington, Kyle Lowry told the coaching staff he was good for 48 minutes if needed, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Lowry wound up playing even more than that, logging 51 minutes and posting a triple-double in a one-point overtime loss.

Lowry’s only rest during the 53 minutes of action came with about a minute left in the third quarter. He returned a minute into the fourth quarter, but Miami was outscored by five points during that time, which proved to be critical.

“It was kind of one of those situations that you got to do what it takes to win the basketball game,” said Lowry, who posted the third-highest minutes total of his long career. “Coach trusted me a lot. He trusted me tonight. He’s always trusted me, but tonight before I walked into the building, I said: ‘48 [minutes].’ I got to 50.”

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Injuries have been a problem all season, and coach Erik Spoelstra is relying on a zone defense more than usual to compensate, Chiang adds. Miami used a 2-3 zone on 63 possessions Friday night and has played a zone 21.4% of the time this season, which would easily set a modern NBA record. “You got to do what you got to do,” Lowry said. “We were the Syracuse Heat tonight.”
After having just seven available players Friday, the Heat may get some reinforcements for Sunday’s game at Cleveland, Chiang notes in a separate story. Bam Adebayo, who has missed the past two games with a left knee contusion, is listed as questionable, as are Dewayne Dedmon, who’s suffering from a non-COVID illness, and Gabe Vincent, who has a left knee effusion. Jimmy Butler has been ruled out for the final two games of the road trip, and Duncan Robinson is doubtful due to a sprained right hand he suffered during Friday’s shootaround. Udonis Haslem, Tyler Herro, Victor Oladipo and Omer Yurtseven all remain unavailable.
Following a 7-9 start, the Heat have limited options for improvement other than an unwise trade involving draft picks, states Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Some suggestions Winderman offers include more minutes for first-round pick Nikola Jovic and restoring Herro to his sixth-man role.

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