ORLANDO — Ahead of his 30th birthday Tuesday, Miami Heat forward Simone Fontecchio felt he already had been gifted a career reprieve.

After stops with the Utah Jazz and Detroit Pistons, Fontecchio said the trust from Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has not gone unnoticed, able to play without the concern that the next missed 3-point attempt might be the final opportunity of the night.

So after a recent run when he went just 9 of 49 from beyond the arc, Fontecchio still found himself operating with the freedom to step up for another, going 4 of 9 from beyond the arc in Saturday night’s loss to the Sacramento Kings.

“You know, always it’s going to be frustrating when you miss a lot of shots like I did in the last week or so, 10 days,” Fontecchio said ahead of Tuesday night’s NBA Cup game against the Orlando Magic at Kia Center. “But the confidence, this group, this coaching staff, these teammates keep pouring on me, it’s amazing.”

At no point, Fontecchio said, did he feel dissuaded.

“And I always had that kind of mentality. So I don’t care how many shots I miss,” he said. “I’ll always shoot it if I think it’s a good shot. So it doesn’t necessarily mess with me too much.

“But of course it can be frustrating. But only having that kind of confidence from him is huge for me.”

Among the reasons Spoelstra has stayed with Fontecchio, save for one recent benching, is the belief in the Italian national team player as more than solely a shooting specialist.

“For us,” Spoelstra said, “we know the value that he brings. One way or another, he gives you the gravity. But all the other details, we’ve been really encouraged by the team defense that he provides. He’s very detailed. He’s intentional. He wants to do the right thing defensively. He also has a toughness about him. He handles his own under the basket, rebounding against bigger players. He sticks his nose in there.

“So the shooting, you have to be able to weather those kind of storms in a long NBA season, for shooters. So I always like to tell those kind of guys, ‘Can you miss 10 straight and shoot your 11th as if you made 10 in a row?’ He has that kind of mentality.”

Hearing that effectively stood as Spoelstra’s birthday gift.

“It’s great. It makes my job easier, that way,” Fontecchio said of his coach’s wider view. “I know that I’m not going to be taken out of the game if I miss a shot, which has happened in my career, on my previous teams. So it’s huge.

“I know that I’ve just got to focus on the simple stuff of the game — defense, doing the right thing on offense, keep rebounding the ball — and that makes my job definitely easier.”

Herro returns

After a two-game absence with a toe contusion, Heat guard Tyler Herro was cleared to return for Tuesday night’s Cup game. Herro missed the teams’ meeting in Orlando on Friday night.

As for fellow Heat guards Pelle Larsson and Davion Mitchell, both said they benefited from Saturday night off against the Kings, a one-game absence for each.

Larsson was listed out Saturday with rip hip flexor tightness.

“It was something that I didn’t want to get worse, because it’s a long season, so a little bit precautionary, but also like not really knowing what it was yet,” he said of his lone absence of the season. “And now checking in and having more knowledge, we kind of feel safe to move on.”

Mitchell sat out Saturday with groin tightness.

“The training team did a really good job of preparing me, giving me treatment, telling me things to do at home,” he said of his lone absence of the season.

All Heat players, with the exception of Terry Rozier, who has been placed on NBA leave because of the ongoing FBI gambling probe, were available for Tuesday night’s game.