Haywood Highsmith (Michael Dwyer, AP)
Q: I don’t mind seeing Haywood Highsmith playing the fourth quarter and overtime even though he only scored two points. Good defense is supposed to be the Heat’s thing. – Roland, Borrego Springs, Calif.
A: And you can do that if you have enough scorers on the floor, which the Heat did with the way that Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo and Kyle Lowry were scoring in Boston. As I mentioned in my analysis of where the Heat might turn with their rotation if the roster returns to full health, I said that Duncan Robinson could be an odd man out or the Heat could go small without a backup center, as in without Dewayne Dedmon. Against the Celtics, Robinson did not play at all, and Dedmon played just 8:41, the shortest appearance of any of the 10 players utilized by Erik Spoelstra beyond Udonis Haslem. And, yes, even with Highsmith making a statement Friday, there still is the matter of trying to fit Victor Oladipo once he returns. In other words, the rotation likely will remain fluid, even with a full-bodied roster approach.
Q: Add Victor Oladipo and a big that can shoot, and we will once again be there at the end. – Michael.
A: For the moment, let’s move past what is not in place, the big man you recommend with range (unless you consider Nikola Jovic to be that player). Instead, it is important to have perspective with Victor Oladipo, and, more to the point, to temper expectation. We simply don’t know what Victor is at this point, after yet another injury absence. And, as mentioned above, to get Vic back in likely would mean pushing someone already in place to the side. Gabe Vincent? Haywood Highsmith?
Q: We need depth to rest Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler because they can’t do that over the course of the remaining 60 games. – Jay.
A: Agree. Erik Spoelstra said ahead of Jimmy Butler’s return, it wasn’t as if Jimmy was going to play 40 minutes on Friday night; he played 35:29. And Kyle Lowry, at 36, went 38:39 – and would have played more if he did not foul out. It will be interesting to see how Erik Spoelstra handles this upcoming back-to-back set of at Memphis on Monday night and home against Detroit on Tuesday night.
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Originally published at Tribune News Service