Q: Ira, why are we celebrating Erik Spoelstra finally again playing Bam Adebayo and Kel\u2019el Ware together? Isn\u2019t that what a coach is supposed to do, problem solve? \u2013 Eddie.<\/p>\n
A: Actually, in the real world, where every team tries to win every game, what a coach is supposed to do is come up with a winning game plan for that night. The Bam Adebayo-Kel\u2019el Ware pairing worked in Saturday\u2019s victory over the Rockets<\/a> because Houston\u2019s lack of sustained outside success allowed the Heat to routinely fall back into zone defense. The Adebayo-Ware pairing worked on Tuesday night against the Nets<\/a>, because, basically, what doesn\u2019t work against the Nets? What will be telling is if Erik Spoelstra feels strongly enough about his power duo against elite power duos. So it will be interesting to see how it plays out against top-tier opponents with bulk in volume, such as Sunday when the Pistons visit. That would be a true sign of legitimate trust.<\/p>\n Q: This team has a different vibe around it the last few games. They are playing with a different swagger and a carefree energy. Could be a fun rest of season, we shall see if it holds. \u2013 Tom.<\/p>\n A: Or it could be that amid this run of five victories in the last seven four of the wins have come against the likes of the Pelicans, Hawks, Grizzlies and Nets. Now, if you want to see swagger, then we first have to see how it holds up on the second night of a back-to-back Friday in Charlotte and then Sunday against the East-leading Pistons. It\u2019s easier to play without a care in the world when the opposition doesn\u2019t care. When it comes to statement wins, the one against the Rockets was the first of its kind in over a month.<\/p>\n Q: Why not let Davion Mitchell\u2019s shoulder fully heal, since this sounds like the previous problem being back? \u2013 Sandy.<\/p>\n A: I agree. But you also can\u2019t tell players who want to play not to play, or at least that\u2019s not the Heat\u2019s way. But if Davion is anything less than 100 percent, it would seem to make sense to give him Thursday off against the Nets \u2013 when Kasparas Jakucionis and Dru Smith can handle his minutes \u2013 in order to have him available as a defensive element against the Hornets\u2019 guards on Friday in Charlotte. As it is, Davion is listed as available for Thursday, so, for now, not even a debate about playing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Q: Ira, why are we celebrating Erik Spoelstra finally again playing Bam Adebayo and Kel\u2019el Ware together? Isn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3778],"tags":[3879,7,144,165,295,189,3880,3881,6,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-640857","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-heat","8":"tag-ask-ira","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-heat","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-miami","13":"tag-miami-heat","14":"tag-miami-heat-blog","15":"tag-miamiheat","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116176427261321883","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}