MIAMI — For now, the pairing appears to be as much a product of circumstance as of choice, with injuries ahead of the All-Star break severely limiting Erik Spoelstra’s Miami Heat lineup options.
Assuming something closer to whole when the Heat return Feb. 20 from their eight-day All-Star break, Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware potentially could again find themselves on different timelines.
But at least for a night, the two stated their case eloquently in Wednesday night’s 123-111 road victory over the New Orleans Pelicans that sent the Heat into their break.
With Andrew Wiggins, Norman Powell, Pelle Larsson and Tyler Herro out, opening with Ware alongside Adebayo was as much necessity as choice. The one demand Spoelstra had with starting that pairing was relentless rebounding.
In that regard, mission accomplished, with Adebayo closing Wednesday night with 14, Ware with 12.
“I like it,” Spoelstra said. “I think they’re both in a different place than where they were six, eight weeks ago, three months ago for different reasons. But that gives us a different look and the versatility of being able to play the two of them together and pound the glass on both ends is a weapon for us. They both want to make it work.
“And they both know where we have to improve to make it work for it to be really effective for us.”
Recall, it was just a month ago when Spoelstra issued a harsh rebuke to Ware about lack of commitment, when Spoelstra said after a home loss to the Boston Celtics, “I get it with some young players. You sometimes subconsciously play poorly to say, ‘Hey, I’ll play poorly until you play me the minutes I think I deserve. Then I’ll play well.’ That’s not how it works.”
Before the ensuing game, Spoelstra walked back those comments, saying, “I didn’t articulate that in a great way, and that wasn’t fair to Kel’el. What I’ll say is I’m fully invested and invigorated about the opportunity to develop Kel’el.”
From there, Ware’s minutes remained uneven,
Then came the injuries.
Then arrived the opportunity to again play alongside Adebayo — with Ware providing more of a payoff.
“And I appreciate that,” Spoelstra said after Wednesday night’s win. “I also appreciate Kel’el’s process the last three weeks or a month, since whenever that game was, the infamous postgame quote.
“But his process really improved and you’re going to go through stretches where it’s up and down. But he just came in every day since then, just trying to work on getting better in the shootarounds and practices and film sessions. And it’s translating to the court. It doesn’t always guarantee that it will. But I appreciate his approach of late.”
While the competition has been lottery level, the Heat have outscored the opposition by 68 points in the 42 minutes that Ware and Adebayo have played together the past three games.
“It’s not really about the boards,” Adebayo said of the pairing. “We just got to be active. It’s not necessarily about the boards. Everybody is going to point to that. But if we’re active on offense and defense, it looks great and it can help this team.”
But Ware also appreciates that the rebound column is where eyes typically go when the two are paired.
“When me and Bam are both in the game, if not both of us crashing, at least one of us is crashing can make an impact,” said Ware, who plays Friday night in the Rising Stars competition during All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles.
So, maybe, finally a runway for the two to take off together.
“I mean, yeah, it all comes down to just reps doing it and being more comfortable out there,” Ware said.
Needed breather
With so much of the rotation sidelined, Spoelstra said the pre-break reliance on Jaime Jaquez Jr. to continually spark the second unit had taken a clear toll on the third-year wing, appreciative now of the break.
“He could use these few days,” Spoelstra said. “There’s nothing like big, it’s just like the bumps, bruises, little nagging stuff. So he hasn’t had the same juice and pep to his step that he had a month ago.
“But he’s the consistent engine for us in that second unit. His ability just to get downhill and create something and everybody is very comfortable playing or spacing off of his drives. He’s really improved as a playmaker. So that has been really like a stabilizing thing when we’ve had a lot of moving parts with that second unit.”